


A Life In Your Shape

by knifelesbian



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Best Friends to Lovers, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Obliviousness, Pining, and they were ROOMMATES
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 07:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17658524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifelesbian/pseuds/knifelesbian
Summary: Gert Yorkes and Chase Stein are best friends. They live together, share lives, share a pet, share a childhood. But they're just best friends. That's it. (No, it's not.)





	A Life In Your Shape

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mindyyorkes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindyyorkes/gifts).



> this fic is dedicated to mindy, one of the best people in the world ever. happy birthday, munch.

“I can’t believe you lost the bet. You used to be a, like, professional alcoholic, how does someone beat  _ you  _ in beer pong?”

 

Chase, her roommate/childhood best friend/secret love of her life, rolls his eyes. “One, I was not a professional alcoholic, and I’ve since quit drinking, so I’m sort of out of practice- and don’t say I had an advantage because I wasn’t drunk, I’ve heard it already from the guys on the team. Two, it wasn’t  _ just  _ me. Tommy was there, too- you know, that one annoying frosh that thinks you’re hot? God, I swear he’s directionally challenged. Like, medically.”

 

Gert squints at him from her spot upside down on the couch. Old Lace, their ‘joint’ (she belongs to Gert. She’s the one who pushed for a dog, so she’s Gert’s. Also, she totally likes Gert better) Samoyed, follows her lead, squinting at Chase from the armchair. “He thinks I’m hot?” 

 

Chase nods. “I believe his exact words were, ‘so hot, I would-”

 

Gert holds up a hand to stop him, already grossed out. “Oh, don’t. Horny eighteen year olds are descriptive in the worst ways.”

 

“True. Anyway, are you coming tonight?”

 

“Um, of course!” How could she miss her best friend getting embarrassed to death? Chase losing the LAX bro vs hockey team bet and having to run the kissing booth at the carnival tonight is going to be a joke gold-mine for years to come- there’s no way she’s not going. “Everybody’s coming. Well, not Karrie, but she hasn’t really been around since the breakup. Al is gonna be there for sure, though. Nico, too.”

 

“Oh, fuck. Alex is going to be an asshole, I just know it.”

 

~~~~~

 

Alex is, indeed, an asshole. The moment he spots Chase, he starts yelling and waving his arms like some sort of maniac. Chase wonders if he’s drunk yet, but can’t tell until he and the rest of the gang reach the booth. Well, he says ‘gang’. Really, it’s just Alex, Gert, and his step-sister, Nico, because Molly is currently on another continent even though she Could be going to school here in Massachusetts with himself and Gert like she was supposed to, and Karolina is pouting over her and Nico’s (most likely temporary) split.

 

“Hey, Chase!!!” Yep, definitely drunk. He shoots a look at Gert, silently asking how bad he is, and Gert makes a face, then holds up six fingers. 6/10. Well, this should be fun.

 

“Hey, Al, what’s up?”

 

Alex slams a five dollar bill on the table in front of him. “Three kisses, one for each of us!”

 

Gert’s face turns bright red. Jesus, even with cheeks the same colour as tomatoes, she’s gorgeous. It’s unfair, really. “Alex-”

 

“Nope! Already paid for!”

 

Nico, who also seems a bit tipsy, raises her hand and wiggles her fingers excitedly. “Me first!”   
  


Chase blinks, then leans forward, expecting a cheek kiss, because, y’know, siblings. “Uh, okay.”

 

Nico struts towards him confidently, grabbing his face and  _ licking his cheek.  _ He pulls away from her immediately, wiping at her saliva now on his face. Gross. “Ew, Nico!”   
  


Gert snorts, covering her mouth with her hand. He glares at her as hard as he can. “Stop laughing, that was disgusting!”

 

Nico gasps dramatically. “Wow, rude!”   
  


“You  _ licked  _ me.”

 

A singular cackle erupts from Gert, and then she’s collapsing into giggles, laughing so hard that her shoulders shake. He wants to get mad, but he just...can’t. Actually, what he wants to do is tell her how much he loves her right now, but that’s not an option, so.

 

It’s probably never going to be an option, either. He’s been in love with her since the fourth grade, and, besides ‘practice kissing’ when they were fifteen and a few drunk makeouts, he’s never been brave enough to make a move. 

 

“Okay, my turn!” Alex says, stepping up to the metaphorical bat. He puckers up, and Chase sighs, leaning in and already knowing how much this is going to suck. 

 

This turns out to be literal, as Alex turns out to be quite literally the worst kisser on the planet, with the sucking and the slobbering and the general...mess. It’s bad, and Chase pulls away the first moment he gets a chance. The two other guys with him at the booth both give him Looks for kissing a dude, because, as Gert would say, sports culture is a cesspool of toxic masculinity and homophobia. 

 

Chase wipes at his mouth, grossed out. “Jesus, Alex. Is this why Victor dumped you?”

 

Alex pouts. “Hey, fuck off.”

 

Oh, right. Chase forgot that that’s a touchy subject. “Sorry.”

 

“Um, is it my turn?” Gert asks, a little shy.  _ Cute.  _ Her hands are behind her back, and she’s biting her lip. “I think it’s my turn.”

 

Chase grins. “C’mere.”

 

She approaches the table, and he leans over it, reaching out to cup her jaw with one hand. “This okay?”

 

Gert nods, and he leans in, pressing his mouth to hers. Not to be cheesy, or anything, but it kind of feels like magic. It’s just...absolutely perfect, the sort of kiss that ruins kissing other people. 

 

She hums into his mouth, curling her fingers into his shirt. Fuck, her lips are so soft. He wishes the table wasn’t between them. Actually, there are a lot of things that he wishes were different about this situation, mainly that they were alone and near a bed- yes, kissing her is  _ that  _ good. 

 

Wanting more, Chase slips his tongue into her mouth, Gert lets out a small moan, her fingers skittering up his chest and into his hair, tugging at the short strands.  _ Fuck. _

Someone clears their throat, and they pull apart as if from electric shock. Whoever it was says something sarcastic, but Chase doesn’t hear it, too busy staring at Gert. Her face is red, and her lips are a little swollen. Fuck, he wants to kiss her again.

 

The person repeats themselves, and Chase snaps out of it. Still panting, he asks, “What was that?”

 

Nico, who was apparently the fun-ruiner in question, rolls her eyes. You know, it’s funny. They’ve only been step-siblings for, like, two years, and yet, the amount of times in a day he manages to accidentally annoy her grow each week. “I said that I want to go to the Ferris wheel before it closes. Come on, Gertie.”

 

Gert stalls, then follows her, giving him a wave. Alex trails after them, throwing Chase a look that he’s almost disgusted to call proud.

 

Chase flops back onto the folding chair, feeling almost kiss-drunk. Is that a thing? Kiss-drunk? It should be a thing.

 

“So that’s your girlfriend, right?” asks Mikey, one of the less bright guys on the Lacrosse team.

 

Livvie, who’s a total bro despite being a business major who does team management for extra credit instead of, like, caring about Lacrosse, bops Chase on the shoulder. “Stein wishes. That’s Gert- he’s been in love with her for, what? A decade?”

 

Chase snorts. “Longer.” 

 

~~~~~

 

Gert gets home from the carnival, still floating on air from that kiss. She does her best to go to sleep, because she’s got class tomorrow, but nothing works. Not melatonin, not sleepytime tea, not cuddling with Old Lace,  _ nothing. _ All she can think about is how Chase’s mouth felt on hers, how she would do anything for it to happen again, how it probably never will. Chase has never been into her like that, and he never will be. No matter how she wishes for the opposite. 

 

So she does what she always does when something Happens between them- avoids him for a few days, then finds someone else to hook up with for a (temporary) rebound. Of course, this means she has to let Karolina take her partying to go find said rebound, which might suck a bit. Ever since her and Nico had that blowout fight and broke up, Gert, as  _ both  _ of their closest friends, has been in the exact center of it. Like, sure. She’s the one who, trying to bond with her best friend’s new sibling, introduced Nico to Karolina, her roommate in freshman year. But still, she’s kind of hating being pulled to either side like taffy.

 

It’s majorly stupid, too, seeing as how the only reason they broke up was because they were both being little bitches about moving in together. Karolina was pushing way too hard, and Nico was acting all pussyfoot, and, really, all it would have taken was a mature conversation about their feelings, but noooo. So now Karolina isn’t showing up to any of their group hangouts, and Nico is drowning her feelings in alcohol. It’s...not awesome.

 

But never mind, Gert has an  _ I’m Hot Shit And We Should Hook Up  _ outfit to pick out. She circles through a few different options, then settles on the hunter green mini skirt and black halter top, paired with her favourite platform heels and a plum coloured lipstick that usually lasts for a good few hours. 

 

She regards herself in the mirror, trying to figure out what this outfit needs. Oh, shit, you know what would be perfect? Chase’s green/black/white flannel that he never wears anymore. Fuck, that would totally bang. 

 

She leaves her bedroom to cross the hallway and knock on his door, Old Lace circling her feet even though she’s too big for it now. “Hey, let me in, loser.”

 

Chase gives her the okay, and she pushes open the door, bee-lining for his closet. Old Lace trots in behind her, jumping up unto Chase’s bed.

 

“Um, hi,” he says, startled. Absently, he starts to scratch Old Lace behind the ears. “You look...good.”

 

She whips around, eyebrows raised. “What, you don’t like it? I thought it was nice.”

 

Chase clears his throat, face red. Is he okay? “‘Nice’ isn’t the word I would use.” 

 

Gert rolls her eyes, going back to searching for the flannel. “Well, what word  _ would  _ you use?”

 

“U-uhm…”

 

“Aha! Found it!” She grabs the flannel off the hook, tying it around her waist. “There, is that better? Or should I, like, actually wear it wear it?”

 

Chase makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Seriously, is he okay? “You look- you look good.”

 

“Are you getting sick? Your face is really red.” She closes the distance and flops down on the side of the bed, nudging Old Lace away and then beckoning him closer. “Here, lemme check your temperature.”

 

Chase rolls his eyes. “Gert, I’m fine-”

 

“‘Fine’ to you could mean anything from a head cold to cancer. C’mere.” 

 

Chase sighs and leans closer, knowing he won’t win. Gert cups his face in her hands, pressing her lips to his forehead to check his temperature. Despite his behaviour, he’s not feverish. Huh.

 

She pulls back, trying not to giggle at the lipstick stain in the middle of his forehead. Chase rolls his eyes, saying, “You know that doesn’t actually work, right? Like, scientifically speaking.”

 

“Don’t let Mom hear you, she’d board a plane to Massachusetts just to rock your shit.”

 

His eyes widen. “Fuck, you’re right.”

 

~~~~~

 

After Gert leaves, Chase heads straight to the bathroom to take a cold shower. A long one, too- God knows he needs it.

 

He’s halfway through stripping down when he catches a look at himself in the mirror- or, more accurately, the plum coloured lipstick stain in the middle of his forehead. Chase laughs to himself. Of course.

 

~~~~~

 

“...and I just don’t get it, y’know? Like, fuck, I was scared, too, but if she just  _ talked  _ to me about it...I don’t get why she’s got to be so stubborn.”

 

Gert nods into her drink, bored. They’ve had this conversation about fifty times, and every time she says the same thing: “Well,  _ you  _ could talk to  _ her  _ about it, maybe?”   
  


Karolina crosses her arms, giving her typical answer: “No way. She’s the one who fucked up, not me.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “Yep, for sure. Um, I’m gonna go get a refill, okay?”

 

Karolina nods, and she finally, finally escapes, flagging down a bartender. He’s kind of hot, actually- tall, with a buzzcut and a name tag that says _ Topher. _

 

He gives her a sly grin. “What can I get you?”

 

“Umm, can I get a Juicy Lucy cocktail?”

 

“On it.” He turns and starts making it immediately, though she’s pretty sure she saw him take someone else’s order before hers. “So, do you go to school here, or…?”

 

“I go to Atlas. You?” 

 

Topher shrugs. “I was never a college kind of guy.”

 

“Oh, I get that. My sister is like that, too-” she screws up her mouth, wondering if that’s inaccurate, “or, only sort of, I guess.”

 

He looks back at her, raising an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

 

Gert shrugs. “Molly is kind of all over the place. Right now she’s in...Taiwan? I think? Taking some kind of cooking course.” 

 

“Molly...that’s a nice name.” He turns around, presenting her drink. “Mind telling me yours?”

 

She takes it from him, grinning slyly. “It’s Gert. And how much?”

 

He winks at her. “On the house.”

 

~~~~~

 

Gert is having sex with someone across the hall right now, and Chase is kind of going crazy. She’s so  _ loud,  _ with the moaning and the panting and  _ oh, fuck yeah’s,  _ and it’s killing him. All he can think about is how he wishes that it was  _ him  _ in her bed,  _ him  _ who she’d whine and pant and moan for. Fuck, not even in her bed- on the floor, against the wall, on the couch, anywhere she wanted him, really. 

 

This guy is apparently some sort of athlete, because they go on for, like, at least a few hours, which, yes, means Chase doesn’t get a wink of sleep the whole night. The combination of noise and the knowledge that it could be him in there and  _ isn’t  _ keeps him up, even after they’ve stopped. He just stares at the ceiling the whole night, hating himself and his stupid fucking emotions. If he could just get  _ over  _ her- but no, of course not, noooo wayyy, not him. 

 

When he was ten years old, he watched a Discovery Channel program about seahorses- did you know that they mate for life? Lots of animals do. Otters, for instance. Or hummingbirds. Well, he’s like that, but the tragic version. Can’t get over her, can’t move on, can’t do anything else but pine over her desperately. Gert is his wishing star- too far to touch or to feel, but just close enough that he aches for her with his whole soul. 

 

It’s mind-numbingly painful, but what is he supposed to do? Stop?

 

~~~~~

 

Gert wakes up the next morning with aching legs and a foggy brain. She’s alone, too, but that’s not much of a surprise. Topher didn’t really seem the type to stay the night. 

 

She pulls on one of Chase’s old t-shirts, stretching lazily as she heads to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She passes Old Lace in the living room, curled up in her dog bed. She gives her pats the way she always does in the morning, then heads to the kitchen. Chase is already there- in fact, it looks like he has been for a while. There’s a verifiable continental breakfast laid out on the on the island, and from the way he’s angrily whipping a bowl of egg whites, there’s more on the way.

 

She climbs onto one of the stools at the island, grabbing a piece of turkey bacon (tacon? burkey?) and shoving it in her mouth. “Mornin’.”

 

Chase doesn’t turn around, and doesn’t respond, either, just grunts hello like some sort of hair product obsessed caveman.  _ Homo Hairgelus, _ maybe.

 

Gert frowns, getting up and making her way towards him to drape herself over his back. “I saaaaaid good mooooorrrniii-”

 

_ “Good morning,” _ he says gruffly. “Will you leave me alone, now?”

 

Gert pulls away from him, hurt. “Well, there’s no need to be mean about it.”

 

Chase sighs, putting down the bowl and turning around with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry. I just- I got, like, no sleep last night, and it was kinda your fault, so-”

 

“Shit, were we loud? I didn’t mean to be loud.” She did, of course, mean to be loud. That was totally, 100% on purpose. Like, sure, she’s desperately in love with him, and he’s never going to feel the same way, but at least she can be the cause of a sleepless night or two. Twisted, right? 

 

Chase rolls his eyes, and oh, shit, now she feels guilty. Great. “Yes, you were. And I have class in, like, two hours, and I’m gonna be running on no sleep, and-”

 

“Hey,” Gert starts, grabbing him by the shoulders. “I’m sorry. Do you want me to go pick up coffee? I can get Annie’s?”

 

Chase looks over her shoulder at the spread of food on the island. “I think we’re pretty set on breakfast.”

 

She wrinkles her nose, thinking. “Well, okay. Umm…” 

 

Their buzzer goes off, and they both startle. Confused, Gert makes her way to the porch, pressing the microphone button and asking, “Who is it?”

 

_ “Topher! I went to get coffee! Would you buzz me in?”  _ Oh, shit. Oh, shit, this is bad, didn’t he realize this was a one night stand type of deal? 

 

“U-uh...sure.” She does so, then rushes back to the kitchen, sliding in on her fuzzy blue socks, Ferris-Bueller style. “He’s back, he brought coffee, what do I  _ do?” _

 

Chase shrugs. “I dunno.”

 

She bugs her eyes out and makes a frustrated little noise, then plants her hands on his back and starts trying to herd him out of the room.

 

Chase huffs a laugh at her futile efforts to try and push him out of the kitchen. “What are you even doing? You know this won’t work.”

 

Gert grunts, frustrated. Trying to get him to move is like attempting to knock down a brick wall with her bare hands. “Can you please just  _ move?” _

“Oh, noooo,” Chase says dramatically as he starts to fall backwards, “gravity is increasing on me!”

 

“No, no, no, you big  _ jerk-”  _ Chase topples back on her completely, trapping her under him on the floor. “I...hate you.”

 

Chase snorts. “Uh-huh, sure.”

 

Gert flicks him on the cheek, hard. “Get  _ off  _ of me before you break my ribs, dickhead.”

 

Chase sighs dramatically, then rolls off of her. “Fine, fine, I’ll go. Have fun!”

 

He heads back to his room, and Gert groans, running a hand down her face. When the doorbell rings, she’s still lying on the floor, and she has to practically sprint to go answer it. 

 

She throws open the door, panting a little. “H-hey. Uh, good morning, I guess. Coffee?”

 

Topher gives her a confused grin. “Yep, coffee. Sorry for just dipping, I thought I’d be back before you woke up, but then I realized that you’d need to, like, buzz me back up, so that was stupid, maybe. Not that the buzz-in system is stupid, I actually think it’s really smart that most buildings have that feature, now. Um, I’m gonna stop rambling, now, sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” Gert says, charmed. “It was cute.”

 

She beckons him inside, closing the door as he takes off his boots (sensibly and patiently, unlike every other person in the household) and lines them up next to hers on the wall. “Hey, I like your dockers.”

 

She squints at him, brain still a little foggy from last night. “Huh?”

 

“You know, shitkickers?” Okay, actually, Topher has taste. Maybe he can stick around for a bit longer than a one night stand. “Uh, what’s the brand name- oh, Doc Martens. Anyway, yours are cool. Did you decorate them yourself?”

 

Gert looks down at the shoes, stitched with designs in a few different colours of thread. “I wish. My friend Nico did them up for me as a birthday gift- she’s an Arts major.”

 

She leads him out of the front porch and towards the kitchen, walking backwards so they can keep up the conversation. Topher grins again, and, damn, he’s handsome. “What type? Of art, I mean.”

 

Gert shakes her head to herself, cursing the fogginess of her mind that kept her from specifying. “Um, double major in Textiles and Art Conservation, with a minor in Art History.”

 

Topher nods appreciatively. “Damn. What are you majoring in, then?”

 

“Music Therapy- but we didn’t meet through that.” Actually, Gert met her for the first time at a party, completely unaware that she was about to become Chase’s new step-sister once Tina and Janet got married that February. Nico also had no idea that Gert was Chase’s best friend, because at that point they had only met once. So imagine how surprised all three of them were when Gert brought Nico home that night and Chase went,  _ oh my God, why are you making out with my _ **_sister?_ **

 

But Topher doesn’t need to know this story, so she keeps her mouth shut as they reach the kitchen. Gert sits down at the island, motioning for him to put down the tray. “Which one’s mine?”

 

“Uh, left one. You seemed like one of those people who takes their coffee too sweet, so there’s, like, four sugar in yours. Was I right? Also, this is, like, a shit ton of food.”

 

Gert takes a sip, humming at the perfection. “You were, and yes, I know. My roommate has a tendency to stress-cook.”

 

“Roommate? Oh my God, we were-”

 

“Yep, he cussed me out for it already.” She grabs one of Chase’s famous cinnamon-apple waffles off the plate, taking a bite and then gesturing with it. “Don’t worry, though, he never stays pissed at me for long.”

 

Topher raises an eyebrow. “‘He’? Do I have something to be worried about, here?”

 

He says it jokingly, but Gert freezes up, anyways. “Um, not really, I guess. He’s...um...we’re best friends.”

 

Topher nods knowingly. “Ah. So I’m a rebound.”

 

“Hey, don’t-”

 

“No, it’s cool, I get it. I’m fine being a rebound.”  _ Low self esteem can lead to jealousy and possessiveness, _ says a voice in her head that sounds suspiciously like her Psych 1000 professor. Gert internally bats it away, because she doesn’t want to think about that right now. 

 

She tries to disagree again, but Topher just shakes his head, grabbing a piece of mango out of the fruit salad. “No, seriously. And, besides, who’s to say it won’t turn into something more?”

 

__________

 

Weirdly enough, it does, in fact, become something more. Topher is fun, they have the same sense of humour, and, well, the awesome sex certainly doesn’t hurt the Let’s Date Topher case. 

 

That is, until she invites him to meet her friends. 

 

They’re at the dog park, walking/being dragged around by Old Lace. Usually, she and Chase do this together, and Old Lace can definitely tell the difference. She does  _ not  _ like Topher. That first morning, she literally took a shit in his shoes while they were distracted, and it’s only gotten worse from there. 

 

She’s trying to talk Topher into coming to Game Night, but he’s being annoyingly weird about it. “I just don’t think they’d want me there. Like, they don’t even know me, I’d totally be intruding.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “You would _ not. _ Alex is always looking for more guy friends, and Nico is automatically going to like you because of the bartender thing. She has a book about mixology.”

 

Topher raises an eyebrow. “If you think I missed the auspicious leaving-out of Chase, there, I didn’t. He hates my guts.”

 

Gert bites her lip. Chase does, indeed, hate Topher’s guts. “He’s just...protective. We’ve known each other a long time.”

 

“Yes, I know.” Uh-oh, he sounds annoyed. “I’d just rather not spend the night getting glared at.”

 

Gert pouts at him. “Are you sure?”

 

Topher stands his ground for a moment, then cracks under the pressure of her patented puppy dog eyes. “Fine! Fine, I’ll come.”

 

~~~~~

“By the way,” Gert says as she sweeps the floor in preparation for tonight, when it will surely become dirty again, “if you’re not nice to Topher tonight I’m going to cut your dick off.”

 

Chase rolls his eyes. He’s in the middle of making snacks right now, chatting with her through the kitchen servery window. He’s trying not to mess up, but it’s sort of hard with Gert threatening bodily harm and Old Lace winding around his legs. “I can’t believe you invited him-”

 

_ “What _ did I just say?”

 

He holds up his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine, in the interest of staying un-castrated, I’ll be civil.”

 

“I didn’t say civil, I said nice.” She puts down the broom, leaning against the servery counter. “What are you even making?”

 

“Canapes. Wanna try?” Gert nods, opening her mouth. Chase holds one up for her, and she leans forward to take a bite out of it. He would probably consider this romantic if they hadn’t done it at least a hundred times before. 

 

She chews, then swallows, wearing her thinking face. “Tastes fancy.”

 

“Too fancy? I don’t want Alex to ignore it for Cheetos.”

 

Gert gives him a look. “Alex would ignore $70 steak for Cheetos.”

 

~~~~~

 

“I don’t like him,” Nico says, taking a sip of her red wine (with ice. Diane Keaton style). “He seems douchey.”

 

They’re halfway through Game Night, and Topher has just left to go to the bathroom, which means it’s time for her friends to bitch about him behind his back. Gert wonders if they do this when she leaves the room, then dismisses it for later because they definitely do, and she doesn’t want to think about that right now.

 

Chase opens his mouth to respond, but Gert points at him angrily. “Nope. you’ve been sworn to silence on the Topher front.”

 

“I haven’t,” Alex says distractedly as he pats Old Lace, “and I say he sucks.”

 

Gert crosses her arms angrily. “Well, I say you guys suck. Just because he isn’t in university like all of you elitist fucks doesn’t mean you can be jerks.”

 

Nico rolls her eyes. “It’s not because he’s not in university, you know it’s not because of that.”

 

“Then what’s it about?”

 

Both Nico and Alex give her a look. Oh. That. Gert sighs. “Can’t I just have some fun for once? Jesus.”

 

Chase looks between them, an adorably confused crease between his eyebrows. “Wait, I feel like I missed something here.”

 

“Hey, would you go get me a refill? Don’t forget the ice.” Nico says, holding out her glass. Chase nods, still looking confused as he stands and takes it from her, heading the kitchen. Once he’s out of earshot, Nico turns to her. “Okay, so, you should dump Topher and confess.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes, hard. “Nico, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times: Chase does not like me that way.”

 

Alex scoffs. “Dude, yes he does. Just make a move!”

 

“What do you mean, ‘yes he does’? Since when has he ever shown any 

interest in me romantically?” Gert can already give you an answer to that one: never.

 

Nico rolls her eyes. “Well, the extreme jealousy might be a good start.”

 

Gert huffs a laugh. “Chase? Jealous? Okay, you’ve gone insane.”

 

“Who’s gone insane?” Topher asks, entering the room, and everyone shuts up immediately.

 

“Um, Nico has. She thinks that you can go backwards on the Monopoly board.”

 

Topher laughs a little, flopping down beside her and throwing an arm around her shoulder. She leans into him, trying to ignore Nico’s pointed glare. 

 

“Okay, I’ve got your drink...oh.” Chase stands in the doorway for a moment, staring at her with a pained look on his face. Her brows crease, silently trying to ask him what’s wrong, but Chase just looks away from her, frowning. 

 

He hands Nico her drink, then sits. Old Lace trots over to him, climbing in his lap.  _ Cuties.  _ “So, uh, who’s turn is it?”

 

Gert is about to answer when the buzzer goes off in the porch. She stands and makes her way over, pressing the button and asking, “Who is it?”

 

_ “Me,”  _ a voice that could only belong to Karolina says.  _ “It’s still Game Night, right?” _

 

~~~~~

 

Oh, this is awkward. Like, Olympic levels of awkward. 

 

Karolina is perched on the arm of Alex’s chair, where she very obviously does not fit, and the minute she walked through the door everyone but Old Lace, because she’s a dog and doesn’t wear them, suddenly became very interested in their socks. Or, in Topher’s case, his ‘indoor shoes’, because he’s a douchebag. 

 

They continue to play the game, but it’s not half as fun with the tension between Nico and Karolina. It sucked before with Topher here, but now it’s just insufferable. 

 

As the night goes on, both Nico and Karolina get more and more intoxicated, and by the time eleven o’clock hits, they’re glaring at each other so intensely that Chase is worried that there’s a throw down in their immediate future. 

 

“Hey, guys, as much...fun...as this is, I’ve got class in the morning,” Chase says. The Monopoly board has long since been put away in favour of an uncharacteristically quiet game of Bitch, and everyone kind of looks relieved when he says it. “We should close up.”

 

Gert nods in agreement, and everyone starts getting ready to leave. As the Forcibly Sober friend, Chase starts calling Lyfts for those who need them- which he won’t be footing the bill for, by the way. If he has to watch the rest of them drink all night, then the price they pay is, well,  _ paying. _

 

To most people, Chase doesn’t really seem like the ‘recovering alcoholic’ type. But most people haven’t seen him discover a block of something yellowish and smelly at a party, question whether it was fancy cheese or soap, take a large bite, then loudly declare that it was soap. Or pass out in the fountain at a high end charity event, only saved from drowning by Gert’s perfect timing and resuscitation skills. That one was scary. After that one, Gert signed him up for AA and personally drove him for the first six months. 

 

He really doesn’t know where he’d be without her. With a father like his, if he didn’t have Gert, he quite honestly might not have survived. 

 

He’s so glad his parents are divorced, now, like, holy fuck. The minute he turned eighteen, Mom all but forced his father to sign the divorce papers, booking a flight to New York on the same day. Chase was already away at university at the time, but getting the call that she’d finally, finally divorced him felt awesome. As did learning she’d found love with one Tina Minoru, even if it was a huge, huge shock at the time. Especially since he was informed of this during Family Weekend, and especially since one of his two new step-sisters was already going to his school and he didn’t even know it. Of course, nothing was as big of a shock than Gert hooking up with said sister two weeks later, completely unaware. Jesus Christ, he’s pretty sure he had a heart attack on the spot.

 

Once everyone leaves, including Topher, thank fuck, Chase flops back on the couch, finally feeling like he can breathe. “Glad that’s over.”

 

Gert collapses onto the armchair, giving him a look. “Don’t celebrate yet- Nico and Karrie got into the same Lyft.”

 

His eyes go wide.  _ “No.” _

 

“Yep. If someone ends up murdered, I’m gonna blame you, okay?” Her voice is soft, tired. He thinks she might be a little drunk. 

 

“Sure. You gonna go to bed soon?”

 

Gert makes a face. “Nah.”

 

Chase sighs, then gets up and herds a sleepy Old Lace into her kennel. “I’ll clean up, okay? It’s my turn, I think.”

 

“It’s not, but I’m tired, so we’ll pretend that it is.”

 

Chase shakes his head to himself, then starts putting everything away. About halfway through clean up, Gert starts snoring, and he grabs a blanket off the back of the couch and lays it over her. 

 

She hums, grinning softly in her sleep. Gert is beautiful when she’s awake, sure, but in sleep, her face relaxes, and she finally doesn’t look worried the way she nearly always does in the daylight hours. It’s nice to see her like that, especially lately.

 

He finishes cleaning up, then looks around the room, trying to see if there’s anything he’s missed. Gert groans in sleep, and he approaches her, crouching down in front of her.

 

“Gert,” he whispers, “time to go to bed.”

 

She groans again, and Chase sighs, then slips his arms beneath her and lifts her up in a bridal carry. She shifts, curling up against his chest as he stands and carries her to her bedroom. 

 

He pushes open the door with his shoulder, humming a nonsense lullaby to her so she doesn’t wake up. Gently, he lays her down on the bed, fluffing her pillow and tucking her in. 

 

Chase strokes her hair, suppressing the urge to kiss her forehead like some sort of lovesick fool. “Goodnight, Gert.”

 

~~~~~

 

Gert wakes up the next morning with a headache and about a thousand texts from both Nico and Karolina. She skims, sighs at what she sees, and rolls out of bed, changing out of last night’s clothes and into sensible pyjamas. Well, actually, they’re Chase’s pyjamas that she stole, but same difference. She stumbles into the kitchen, making breakfast and wondering where the hell Chase- or O.L., for that matter- is. 

 

She’s re-reading Nico and Karolina’s messages, trying to figure out how to answer them, when the door swings open, and Chase and O.L. roll in from a morning run. Chase is dripping in sweat, his bare chest heaving, and Gert’s mouth immediately becomes dry as the Sahara. 

 

“Hey,” he says, still panting as he opens up the fridge and grabs the orange juice carton. He twists off the cap and then chugs, a drop or two of juice escaping and slithering down his chest. Fuck, she wants to, like,  _ lick  _ him.

 

She makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat, trying not to breathe too heavy. “Good- good morning. U-uh, did you hear about Nico and Karolina?”

 

Chase shakes his head no, then leans down to unclip Old Lace from her leash. She trots off, tongue lolling. “Fill me in?”

 

“Well, they fucked.”

 

A startled laugh leaves his mouth.  _ “What?” _

 

“Yep, they fucked, and then they both woke up this morning and instead of talking to each other like normal fucking people, they both dipped and texted me at, like, the exact same fucking time, and they both want to hang out today to talk it out, and-”

 

Chase grabs her by the shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. “Hey, hey, breathe, it’s gonna be fine.”

 

Gert sucks in a breath, steadying herself and trying very, very hard to keep her eyes on his face. “Sorry. I’m just...stressed.”   
  


“I know, but we’ll figure it out, okay?”  _ We. _ Jesus Christ. “How about this- you handle Karolina, and I’ll handle Nico? That way, it’s not all on you.”

 

Gert grins softly. She loves him so, so, much. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Um, thank you.”

 

He reaches down to grab her hand, squeezing a little. “Anything for you.”

 

She sucks in a breath, surprised at the words, and for a long moment, they just stare at each other.  _ Please kiss me please kiss me you’re shirtless and I’ve been in love with you so long that to not be in love with you would be to stop breathing please kiss me- _

 

Wait. She’s seeing someone. She’s seeing someone, and Chase doesn’t like her that way, and she has to stop thinking like this before she makes herself sick.

 

Gert steps back, looking away and clearing her throat. “I, um, have to go get dressed. And then we can, um, plan out what we’ll say today. I guess. Um, seeya.”   
  


She backs out of the kitchen at top speed, heading to her bedroom. She closes the door behind her, flops down on the bed, and screams into her pillow.  _ Fuck.  _

 

~~~~~

 

“Nico, stop groaning and deal with your problems like an adult,” Chase says, nudging his sister with his foot. She’s lying on his living room floor right now, and has been since she got here a half an hour ago.  About ten minutes into her groaning, Old Lace trotted over and lid on top of her, which Chase is surprised she hasn’t complained about yet. His sister and his dog are nearly the same height when O.L. puts her paws on her shoulders.

 

“Fuck you, Stein. I am emotionally volatile, and I do not need some jockhead twunk who can’t be honest to the girl he’s in love with telling me how to run my life.”

 

Chase blows out a breath. “Harsh.”

 

“But fair, so fuck off and let me wallow in peace.” 

 

He nudges her with his foot again. “No. Talk about your feelings, or I’m gonna bring in the big guns and call Amy to come deal with your bullshit.”

 

Nico struggles under Old Lace, who politely steps off of her so she can flop on her back, giving him a wide-eyed look. “You wouldn’t.”

 

Chase grins, knowing the threat of their hard ass professional tennis playing sister coming all the way down from New York to ream her out would be enough to make her talk. “I would.”

 

Nico rolls her eyes, beckoning to Old Lace to come sit on her stomach so she can pat her. Old Lace does one of her adorable doggy smiles, wagging her tail as she curls up there. “I just...I feel so stupid. First, because of my dumb commitment issues, I go and make Karrie dump me instead of doing the normal thing and just moving in with her, no matter how unprepared I felt. Second, I  _ slept  _ with her, then left too early in the morning for her to actually talk it out because I’m a fucking dumbass.”

 

“You’re not a dumbass,” Chase says, using his I’m Gert And I’m Gonna Be A Therapist voice, “Karolina was pressuring you, you weren’t the only one at fault in this situation. What you need to do is have a mature conversation with her in a neutral space, sans alcohol.”

 

Nico squints at him. “You sound like your girlfriend.”

 

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

 

She rolls her eyes. “Same difference.”

 

~~~~~

 

Gert is making dinner and ignoring everything. Her phone is off, because if she gets one more text from Nico or Karolina or Topher or anyone she might scream, and she’s got her  _ I’m Going Nucking Futs  _ playlist blaring on her laptop as she dances around the kitchen under the guise of cooking. It’s great, really. Just awesome. She’s not in danger of accidentally cutting off a finger, totally not. 

 

_ “Somebody said you’ve got a friend,”  _ she sings, placing the premade Costco dumplings in the frying pan,  _ “Does she love you better than I can?”  _

 

She pours in the tablespoon of oil, bopping her head.  _ “There’s a big black sky over my town. I know where you're at, I bet she's around.” _

 

As the pan starts to sizzle, she does a twirl that Molly would make fun of her for to reach the fridge, opening it and grabbing the leftover peanut sauce from last night’s stir-fry.  _ “Yeah, I know it's stupid, I just gotta see it for myself.” _

 

She hears the door open, but she’s busy heating up the peanut sauce in a pot (because heating things up in the microwave is for lazy people, and Gert is trying to be better than that), so she doesn’t leave the kitchen to greet Chase. Plus, he’s probably gonna head straight to his room, anyway.

 

_ “I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her, ohh, I'm right over here, why can't you see me, ohh-” _

 

“Hey.” Oh, no. “What’s for supper?”

 

Gert whips around, blushing. “Ummm, dumplings! And peanut sauce.”

 

Chase grins, bopping his head to the music. “Nice. This is Robyn, right?”

 

“Yep.” She grabs a spoon and dips it into the pot, then holds it out to him. “Tell me if this is hot enough?”

 

Chase, now humming along, approaches and leans forward, closing is mouth around the spoon. He makes a face, then swallows and says, “Still too cold.”

 

She wrinkles her nose at the pot, like being annoyed with it will make it heat up faster. “Shit.”

 

She turns back to Chase, only to find him dancing around like a fool. She covers her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh. “What are you  _ doing?” _

 

“Dancing! You should join!” He sticks out his hands in her direction, wiggling his fingers. “Come on!”

 

Gert throws her head back in a laugh, then grabs his hands, and they both start dancing to the music like crazy people. Giggling, Chase moves his hand down to her waist, swooping her into what could loosely be called a waltz. Gert leans into him, grinning way too wide as the bridge starts up.

 

Chase twirls her around, pulling her back into his arms with her back against his chest as the song starts to fade out, hooking his chin over her shoulder. Eyes closed, Gert reaches up behind her to cup his jaw with the hand that isn’t already tangled in his, and for a moment, they just sway. 

 

Gert mumbles along to the ending lyrics, feeling more relaxed than she has all day.  _ “I keep dancing on my own...” _

 

~~~~~

When Chase wakes up that morning, he’s got a pounding headache, a scratchy throat, and the stuffiest nose known to man. 

 

He groans, wishing he could stay in bed and knowing he can’t, then pulls on his robe and sloughs to the kitchen. He makes himself some tea, then roots around the pantry for lozenges, hoping against hope that his classes will get cancelled. They won’t, because October is too early for a snow storm, and all of his teachers are hardasses, as Engineering professors are wont to be, but a guy can dream. 

 

“Oh my God, you’re sick.”

 

Chase turns around, finding Gert still in her pyjamas with a worried look on her face. Old Lace is at her feet, panting at her, but Gert hasn’t looked away from him. Congested, he says, “It’s not that bad.”

 

Gert approaches him, giving him a worried once over. “Please tell me you don’t have class today.”

 

“Can’t. It’s fine, though,” he says, holding up the bag of lozenges he’s just found, “I’ve got these.”

 

~~~~~   
  


It is not, in fact, fine. Chase is going to end up sneezing on some poor freshman and giving them his head cold, who in turn is going to sneeze on someone else, who then in turn will sneeze on multiple people, and her best friend is going to be solely responsible for this autumn’s campus wide sickness. She knows this. Chase knows this.

 

Unfortunately, there’s nothing to be done about it. Because of Capitalism, Gert has to work today, and Topher wants to take her out after her shift at Five Guys, so she’s not gonna get home until late. Sure, she could blow him off  _ (not _ like that), but she doesn’t want to make him upset. Topher is a nice guy, she can’t just ditch him. 

 

She makes it through five hours of snot nosed teenagers, creepy old dudes, and stressed grad students, then finally clocks out, taking off her dumb hat and changing out of her stupid work shirt into a cute sweater that Molly brought her back from Paris. It’s got little cat faces on it in a repeating pattern, and it’s super duper soft.

 

She waits outside for a few minutes, debating whether or not to call Chase and check in. She’s just about to dial his number when a motorcycle roars up to the curb, her helmeted boyfriend (? they haven’t discussed labels) parking right in front of her. 

 

Topher flips up his visor, grinning at her. “Hey!”

 

“Um, hi.” She looks over the bike apprehensively, suddenly nervous. She knew he had one, but she’s never actually been on it. Is he gonna make her get on? She’s not sure she wants to. It looks super dangerous. Like, super, super dangerous.

 

Topher reaches back and grabs a blue helmet, handing it to her. She looks down at it, studying her cerulean-tinted reflection. Shit, she forgot to put on mascara. She’s wondering whether or not she should make an excuse to go apply some when he says, “Well? Put it on.”

 

Gert bites her lip. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

 

Topher gives her a sharp smile that shows off his incisors. “That’s what makes it fun.”

 

“If you say so…” She pulls on the helmet and climbs on the bike, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing tightly. Muffled from her face pressed into his shoulder, she says, “This isn’t gonna be scary, right?”

 

Topher revs the engine. “No, it probably is.”

 

He zooms down the street, and Gert swallows a scream at how fast they’re going.  _ Please don’t let this be the way I die, I have a dog to feed! A sister to nag about her life choices! A best friend who doesn’t know how to take care of himself! _

 

Miraculously, they reach the party in one piece. Topher parks, and Gert gets off immediately, her whole body shaking as she puts as much distance between her and the bike as possible. That was  _ terrifying. _

 

Topher follows after her, grabbing her by the arm. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

 

“I didn’t like that.” She crosses her arms, feeling uncomfortable. “Like, really, really didn’t like that. I, uhm, I have an anxiety disorder, actually? And that just...no. I know I didn’t, like, tell you, but, uhm-”

 

Topher makes a face. “Oh. Well, everybody gets nervous sometimes-”

 

Her eyebrows crease. “No, like, I take doctor prescribed medication for my diagnosed mental illness, don’t be a dick.”

 

He holds up his hands, like  _ she’s  _ the unreasonable one in this situation. “I’m not being a dick, I just-”

 

“Yo, Topher the Gopher’s here! And he brought a chick!” a voice calls, and they both turn.  _ Chick?  _

 

The party, as could probably be predicted, does not get better from there. It’s a rager, the type of party she hasn’t been to since she was eighteen, and she spends half the party pulling college guys off of their sixteen year old ‘dates’, who came looking for alcohol and instead got adults trying to take advantage of them. She calls Lyft a good half a dozen times throughout the night to pick up said girls and drive them home, all the while trying to find Topher, who disappeared fifteen minutes into the party. God, the free Domino’s and lukewarm bottle of ginger ale (because she really, really didn’t want to drink tonight) totally wasn’t worth it.

 

After two hours or so, Gert calls a Lyft for herself, not wanting to waste any more time here. It’s shitty, everyone is acting foolish, and she shouldn’t have to suffer through this when she could go home and make sure Chase takes care of himself. Oh, maybe they can watch a movie- it’s Saturday tomorrow, and Chase doesn’t have practice until the afternoon. Soon, he won’t have practice at all until the new year, which Gert is  _ so  _ looking forward to. Their last game is on Halloween, and then he’s done and she doesn’t have to worry about dying from horniness every time he comes home from practice. Of course, Halloween is a problem in and of itself. You see, last week, her cousin Hannah’s baby was born. Two months before said birth, herself and Molly made a bet on whether the kid would be a boy or a girl. Gert was sure she would win, but Hannah popped out a boy, so now she’s stuck wearing the dumbest Halloween costume known to man at Victor’s party in a few weeks. Her only saving grace is that Alex won’t be there, and therefore won’t be able to make fun of her. Alex and Victor claim to still be friends after their (amicable) breakup, but that doesn’t mean they like seeing each other all that much anymore. 

 

Once she’s gotten the alert that the Lyft is five minutes away, she pulls on her coat and steps out onto the front porch to wait. Though she’s outside, now, she can still hear the music blaring from the interior- some Post Malone bullshit that sounds like a dying goose downloaded a free auto-tune app off the AppStore. 

 

“Hey, babe, what are you doing out here? Party’s inside, you know.”

 

Gert turns around to face a very drunk Topher, raising an eyebrow. “I’m aware.”

 

Topher giggles, stumbling forward to lean against her shoulder. When he speaks next, she gets a blast of Sour Puss flavoured air to the face. “You should- you should come back inside. ‘Missed you.”

 

Gert’s mouth purses. “You didn’t seem to miss me for the past two hours, but okay.”

 

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he slurs, “I just got- I just got caught up.”

 

Gert sighs, then strong-arms out of his grip. “Whatever. My Lyft is here, I’ve got to go.”

 

“Noooo,” he says, trailing after her as she trots down the steps, “stay!”

 

Gert rolls her eyes, and doesn’t turn around. “Not in a million years.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is roused from semi-sleep by Gert flopping down next to him on the bed, giggling tiredly as Old Lace climbs into her lap.

 

“Hi, baby,” she says softly, scratching behind the dog’s ears. For half a second, Chase almost thinks she’s talking to him, but he’s disproven when she turns his way not a moment later and says, “Hey, garbage face, how are you feeling?”

 

Chase groans, shifting to sit up. Head pounding, he wraps an arm around her, pressing his face into her shoulder. “Shitty. How was your party?”

 

“Fucked. I think I broke up with Topher.”

 

Chase’s eyes snap open. “Really?”

 

Gert laughs, reaching up to absently stroke the hair at the base of his neck. “Yeah. he was being a dick, and I just- I was kind of done with him, so. Back to sleeping alone, I guess.”

 

“S’okay. You can sleep here tonight.” He yawns, wanting to go back to sleep.

 

“No, that’s not...never mind.” Gert shifts to lie down, pulling him with her. Chase throws his arm back around her waist, pressing his face into her hair. “Goodnight, Chase.”

 

~~~~~

 

“I still don’t understand why you love these dumb games so much. It’s just sports.”

 

“It is not just  _ sports,” _ Gert says to Nico, applying the two lines of blue glitter to her cheeks to match Gert’s own, “Lacrosse is a time honoured tradition that is revered by...by…”

 

Chase has come onto the field, joining the rest of the team for warm up, and Gert’s mouth has suddenly gone very, very dry. Frozen, she watches him run laps around Atlas’s half of the field, his cheeks already rosy.  _ Fuck. _

 

“Ah,” Nico says, “This has nothing to do with sports, does it? You’re just horny.”

 

Gert elbows her sharply, shoving the glitter stick back in her bag. “Fuck you, Minoru.”

 

“Aw, come on, you showed up in his jersey, you have to let me tease just a little!”

 

Gert pouts, tugging at the sleeve of Chase’s freshman jersey that she borrowed/stole from him the moment he got his new sophomore set last year. “Can’t I support my best friend in peace?”

 

Nico snorts. “Not when your end goal is to shove your tongue down his throat.”

 

Gert snarls at her. “Go suck a-”

 

“Hey!” a voice says, and they both turn to find Chase leaning over the fence, grinning at them. “What are we fighting about?”

 

“Well-”

 

“Nothing,” Gert says, elbowing her again. “You ready for the last game of the season?”

 

“I’m more ready for that party we’re going to tonight. Junk food here I come!”

 

Gert makes a face, thinking of the dumbass costume Molly is making her wear tonight. God, she’s gonna freeze her ass off. She’s about to whine to Chase about this, but Coach Alphonsa blows the warning whistle before she gets the chance. “Well, um, good luck out there.”

 

Chase taps his cheek with two fingers. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

 

She giggles, then leans forward, ignoring Nico’s wide-eyed look. She presses a kiss to his cheek, leaving a lip-gloss print when she pulls away. Oops. Softly, she says, “Good luck, again. I hope you win.”

 

Chase grins at her. “I think I already have.”

 

Before she can figure out a response, Coach Alphonsa blows the whistle again, and Chase books it, waving back at them. As soon as he’s out of earshot, Nico turns to her, incredulous. “What the fuck was that?”

 

“U-uhm, it’s tradition. Every time he has a game, I kiss him on the cheek. He says- he says I’m his good luck charm.” God, her face is so red right now.

 

Nico groans, rolling her eyes so hard that it  _ must  _ hurt. “You and my brother are the most oblivious fuckers on the face of the planet.”

 

“Um, excuse me, Ms. ‘I Still Haven’t Kissed And Made Up With My Girlfriend Who Loves Me’, I think you might need to take a page out of your own damn book for a change.”

 

Nico sticks her tongue out at her. Well then. Guess that’s that.

 

~~~~~

 

_ “Pridemore down the wing to Stein, Stein gets it back to Pridemore, quickly up the shack to Stanwyck, McDonough kills off the man down, Stein open on the low side, Chase Stein SCORES IN THE LAST FIVE SECONDS!” _

 

The crowd starts roaring, and as the buzzer blares, Chase tosses down his stick and pumps his fist, yelling as the rest of his teammates surround him in a giant ‘not a group hug because we’re BROS’ group hug. 

 

The next ten minutes are a blur of people chanting his name and congratulating him, but once the adrenaline wears off, all he can think about is finding Gert. Not for any real, concrete reason, but he just won his last game of the season, and he needs to be with her right now.

 

He escapes the crush of his teammates, looking around for her for a moment before spotting her on the sidelines, waving excitedly with a huge smile on her face. Nico is standing next to her, looking half bored and half sort of proud. As soon as he spots them, he starts running, and so does Gert, until they meet in the middle and he picks her up in a hug and twirls her around. “We won! We won!”

 

“You did! I knew you’d do it.” He’s just holding her now, his hands gripping her thighs and her legs wrapped around his waist. She’s cupping his face in her hands, with a look in her eyes like he’s given her the world. Chase feels like his heart might burst.

 

He grins. “All because of my good luck charm.”

 

Gert wrinkles her nose, blushing. “Nah. that one was all you.”

 

~~~~~

 

“Oh my God, what the fuck are you wearing?”

 

Gert turns around, arms crossed uncomfortably as she gives Chase the stink eye. “Not. One. Word.”

 

“Gert, you’re dressed as the Playboy Bunny, and you expect me to-”

 

Gert holds up a hand. “For one, I am dressed as Elle Woods as the Playboy Bunny, and for two, I lost a bet to my asshole sister and I’m not allowed to change or she’ll find out somehow and I’ll owe her fifty bucks. Got it?”

 

Chase snorts, looking her up and down. Fuck, she  _ cannot _ let him see her from behind, she would never live down the fluffy bunny tail. At the very least, she’s wearing pink shorts over a fucking leotard. Thank God. “Uhm, sure. You should take my jacket, though, or you’re gonna get frostbite before we even get to the car.”

 

Gert raises an eyebrow at him as he heads to the porch to grab one of his coats. “Dude, I have my own to wear.”

 

Chase returns, triumphantly holding up his favourite corduroy jacket. “Yeah, but mine are warmer.”

Gert rolls her eyes, but lets him wrap the jacket around her anyway. She sticks her arms through the sleeves, letting Chase do up the buttons with a long-suffering sigh. “I can do this myself, you know.”

 

He gives her a small smile, doing up the last button and then reaching up to absently twist a piece of her hair around his finger. “I do.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is on the verge of losing his mind. He has been ever since he first saw Gert in that damned costume, actually, and it’s just been deteriorating since. Like, sure, he was all cutesy and composed with the jacket thing earlier, but he also almost crashed the car on the way here because he saw a glimpse of her bare thigh. They’re actually at the party, now, and he feels like if he doesn’t kiss her soon, he might die. 

 

The two of them are chatting with Nico and Karolina, who are acting all lovey dovey and cuddly, so he’s kind of assuming they’ve worked things out. He’s not going to grill them right now, though, because Nico is currently roasting Gert on her choice of costume while Karolina looks on, giggling foolishly into her sidecar. Like, she looks totally hot in it, but it’s still fun to see Nico lay into her. 

 

“...and, like, since when do you wear pink?” Nico asks. “You are not a pink person.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “One, don’t put me in a box, I can be any kind of person I want to be, and two, as I’ve been trying to tell you for the past half hour, I lost a bet to Molly.”

 

Karolina frowns. “But she’s, like, a baby? Just give her a binkie and tell her to go away.”

 

Gert snorts. “Karrie, my sister is eighteen.”

 

“Oh. Wait, what?” She turns to Nico, confused. “That’s not true, right? There’s no way she’s older than fourteen.”

 

Nico rolls her eyes lovingly. “Come on, babe, I’ll explain it to you while we get drinks.”

 

Karolina starts to say that she already has a drink, but Nico pulls her away before she can finish. Once they’re out of earshot, Chase and Gert turn to each other and immediately burst out laughing.

 

Gert leans into him a little, still giggling. “I cannot  _ believe- _ I’ve known her for three years! She’s met my sister multiple times! And don’t even get me started on those two somehow making up in the five hours we’ve been split up, like, what the fuck?”   
  


Chase shakes his head in a somewhat appreciative manner. “Gay people are so powerful.”   
  


“We are! We are.” Gert blows out a breath, regarding the writhing dance floor. “Do you wanna dance, maybe? I’m kinda bored.”

 

Chase huffs a laugh. “Sure.”

 

Gert grabs him by the hand and drags him into the crowd, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. A bit nervous, he moves his hands to her waist, gripping her hips. She giggles a little as they dance, at his anxiousness, probably. But she’s just so intoxicating, with her sharp smile, and perfect skin, and soft hair that smells like orange blossoms, and- well. You get the point. 

 

The song changes, and he pulls her closer, digging his fingers into her hips. Neither of them look away from each other, and he feels unsteady, almost.  _ Do you want this?  _ He tries to ask, but the words won’t come out.  _ Can we do this, just for tonight? _

 

Gert bites her lip. “Chase?”

 

Matching her soft tone, he asks, “Yeah?”

 

She gets up on her tiptoes and presses his mouth to his, without pomp, without lead up, like this is something that they just do. Like this is normal, quotidian. Of course, it doesn’t feel quotidian. It feels like his whole world is turning upside down, but all he can really focus on is how she tastes like peach schnapps and Skittles. It’s a horrible flavour combination, but he can’t bring himself to care one bit. Gert is cupping his cheek and humming into his mouth under the neon lights, so nothing else really matter right now.

 

He tangles his hand in her hair and slips his tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply. Gert makes a whimpering sound in the back of her throat, and, fuck, they need to be somewhere more private because he is 100% about to get an erection and he does not want that to happen in the middle of the dance floor. 

 

Chase pulls back about an inch, panting, “D’you wanna go somewhere a little more-”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she says breathily, and he grins, then pulls away fully. He grabs her hand, dragging her to a quiet corner of the house before pushing her up against the wall, kissing her hard. 

 

Gert moans, wrapping her arms around his neck. One of his hands travels down to her bare thigh, pressing into her skin, and Gert hooks her leg around his waist. He sighs into her mouth, wishing they were home right now, wishing they were near a bed. 

 

He pulls away from her mouth to start kissing his way down her neck, pressing silent  _ I love yous  _ into her skin. He starts sucking a hickey into a spot below her ear, and Gert makes a perfect little gasping sound, tugging at his hair.

 

_ “Fuck, Chase,” _ she breathes, rutting against him, and Chase groans against her neck. The hand not at her thigh travels down, down, down, squeezing her ass lightly, and Gert makes a surprised, high pitched sound.

 

He pulls away from her neck, panting. “Sorry, was that not okay?”

 

Gert blinks a few times, and suddenly she’s frowning. Shit, what did he do? “No, it was- it was fine, we just- we really shouldn’t be doing this.”

 

“Oh,” he says, disappointed. He disentangles himself from her, avoiding eye contact. “Um. Sorry, I guess.”

 

Gert makes a complicated face that he can’t parse, and, just so she doesn’t see him have a miniature breakdown over his apparent fuck up, he books it, and goes to sit in the car for the next hour, when Gert comes out and says she’s ready to leave. 

 

And, if you’re wondering: yes, it was a very awkward drive home.

 

~~~~~

 

Of course, they don’t talk about it. Actually, they don’t talk about much of anything- the longest conversation they’ve had for the past three weeks was ‘can you please pass the salt?’

 

It’s torture. It’s especially torture for someone like Gert, who has more trouble making decisions than Chidi Anagonye, and as such literally never knows what to say to him. What would she tell him, anyway?  _ ‘Sorry, it’s just that I’m in love with you and couldn’t help myself’?  _ What’s worse is that she can’t even blame the alcohol- she’d had, like, three sips of a peach schnapps, and Chase hasn’t had anything to drink in a year and a half. They were both stone cold sober. Drat. 

 

Oh, her phone is ringing. Double drat. She was planning to stew a while longer. “Hello?”

 

_ “Hey, Gertie, would you wanna go to this concert with me?” _ Alex says when she answers.  _ “I don’t have anyone to go with, and I thought you’d wanna come.” _

 

Gert’s brow creases, considering. “Um, who’d we be going to see?”

 

_ “Janelle Monae.” _

Gert all but drops the phone. She lets out a surprised squawk, and Old Lace comes bounding towards her on the couch, jumping into her lap to see what’s wrong. Gert bats her away gently, freaking out.  _ “What? _ When? How? Yes!!!”

 

_ “November 26th.” _ Oh, shit. Thanksgiving.  _ “So, you’ll go?” _

 

“Uhm...well, usually me and Chase do stuff for Thanksgiving- but, like,  _ Janelle Monae... _ I’m sure he’ll understand.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase does not understand. He does not understand at all. This is their  _ thing, _ their  _ tradition, _ and she’s just, what, ditching him? 

 

“Aw, come on, I get that it’s a bit of a surprise, but there’s no reason for the silent treatment!” Gert says after he doesn’t respond quickly. “There’s always next year!”   
  


“That’s not the point,” Chase says, hurt. “This is our thing, and you’re  _ ditching  _ me.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “Okay, I am not ditching you-”

 

“You are! What else do you call this, Gert? First you don’t speak to me for, like, three weeks, and then you cancel on me for my favourite holiday-”

 

Gert scoffs. “Right, like Thanksgiving is your favourite holiday.”

 

“It is! It’s the only one I get to spend with you, so it’s my favourite.” Oh, that was too honest. He’s too worked up to care right now, though. “But I guess- I guess you don’t care, so whatever, right? You don’t give a shit about my feelings.” 

 

Gert sucks in a breath. “Chase, that’s not- wait, that’s why you like it so much?”

 

“Yeah, it is.” He steps away from her, heading to the front porch. He needs some air. Not looking at her, he calls, “But, whatever, go to the stupid concert.”

 

“I will!” She yells at his back.

 

“Good!” He grabs his coat and heads out, slamming the door behind him. Jesus Christ.

 

~~~~~

 

“So, you fucked up.”

 

Gert nods, her face against Nico and Karolina’s couch. They agreed to move in together, finally, which is great for her, because she gets two amateur therapists for the price of one. “I did. I didn’t realize it would be such a big deal! All we do is eat sweet potato casserole and make fun of the Macy’s Parade!”

 

“...And spend time together on a major holiday, which you don’t often get to do together,” Karolina says, making way too much sense for someone who’s hair is currently in what can only be called Magika Girl pigtails. “Newsflash, Gertie: Chase likes hanging out with you.”

 

“Yeah, but we hang out, like, all the time! We live together, for God’s sakes! We have joint ownership of a pet! It’s  _ one  _ holiday-”

 

“Exactly,” Nico says. “The one holiday out of the year where the two of you spend the night together, alone, the one holiday you have real traditions for-”

 

“Okay, don’t say ‘spend the night together’ like that. It’s not a sex thing, don’t make it sound like a sex thing.” Sure, she wishes it was a sex thing, but in reality, they just stuff themselves with sweet potato casserole and drink Big 8 rootbeer, because it tastes Seasonal but it also only costs, like, two dollars at Walmart. “And, we, um, we do stuff for birthdays, too.”

 

“Not stuff that’s just the two of you.”

 

Gert makes a face. “You’re gonna try and make me miss Janelle, aren’t you?”

 

Karolina grins. “Just give your ticket to me! Problem solved.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “Karrie, you hate Alex-”

 

“No, I don’t!”

 

Both Gert and Nico give her a look, saying in unison, “You kind of do.”

 

__________

 

Gert is at the venue, all dressed up, and ready to dance her heart out to Janelle Monae. But it feels...wrong. Their hanging out outside the venue, and the concert starts in an hour, so she should be excited, but she’s just...not. She blows out a breath, wishing she could enjoy this sans-guilt.

 

“Oh my God, dude, what’s wrong? We’re about to see  _ Janelle fucking Monae, _ and you’re _ moping.” _

 

Gert turns to Alex, frowning. “I’m not moping...I’m, um, happy to be here.”

 

Alex raises an eyebrow at her. “You don’t sound happy to be here, though.”

 

She twists her mouth up. “I just...me and Chase always do Thanksgiving together, right? We have all these dumb traditions, and we’ve had them since freshman year, but I’m, um, I’m missing it for this. And he’s really, really pissed at me for it, so I just feel...guilty.”

 

Alex sighs. “Oh no, you’re gonna ditch me, aren’t you?” 

 

“No, I mean- how mad would you be, scale from one to ten?” Is she actually considering this? Christ. 

 

Alex bites his lip. “A solid seven, but we can make it a five if you somehow find someone decent to replace you.”

 

Gert’s eyes light up, thinking of a certain business major/Lacrosse team manager who was just whining on Snapchat about spending Thanksgiving alone. “I’ve got just the girl.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is just taking the sweet potato casserole out of the oven when the door opens, Gert’s voice calling, “Hey, have you started without me?”

 

Surprised, he puts down the casserole and steps into the hallway, looking her over. She’s still dressed for Janelle, her hair pulled back into one of those fancy ponytails with two pieces of curled hair framing her face and her makeup super glam. “Why aren’t you at the concert?”

 

Gert steps out of her shoes, giving him an apologetic smile. “You were more important. And, besides, I can go see her anytime, she’s touring for the next few months- but we only do  _ this  _ once a year.”

 

Oh, no, he’s gonna cry. He’s really gonna cry, Christ. He approaches her, scooping her up for a hug as soon he gets close enough. Gert giggles, mumbling something about her makeup, but he doesn’t care. He just needs to hold onto her right now, who gives a fuck if his t-shirt gets glitter on it.

 

“I’m- I’m really sorry,” Gert says after a moment, “for everything. You’re right, I haven’t been- I haven’t been very considerate, lately.”

 

“It’s okay-”

 

Gert shakes her head, pulling back to look at him. “It’s not, though. I hurt you, so it’s not okay.”

 

Chase grins softly, reaching out to twist a loose curl around his finger. “You’re here now, though. That’s all I really care about.”

 

They spend the rest of the evening sharing a pan of sweet potato casserole, making fun of the Macy’s Parade floats, and discussing whether or not setting up Alex and Livvie was actually a good idea. They both change into their pyjamas at some point, then cuddle up on the couch, giggling at each other’s dumb jokes. They fall asleep there, and waking up the next morning with Gert in his arms has never felt more right.

 

~~~~~

 

Oh, God, it’s Family Weekend. 

 

Gert doesn’t know how she forgot it was coming up. Maybe everything that was happening with Chase distracted her from it, but now, it’s here, and she’s going to be forced to interact with her parents for the next three days. Ugh, Molly isn’t even gonna be here to make it bearable- she’s in the Balkans right now, and apparently getting a plane out of there is ‘like getting a goat to dance’. Gert has no idea what this means, but best guess, it’s probably a difficult task.

 

They’re gonna be here for the dumb campus picnic at around three, so she’s got time to prepare. Oh, it also means that she has to wake Chase up. This should be fun.

 

She opens the door gently, so as not to wake him up, then rushes to the bed, leaping onto it and starting to jump up and down, yelling, “GET UP LOSER, IT’S FAMILY WEEKEND!”

 

“Fuck offff,” Chase groans, chucking a pillow at her blindly. 

 

Gert dodges it, still using his bed as a trampoline. “NO!”

 

Chase grunts, then in one swift motion, reaches up and grabs her by the waist, pulling her down with him and locking her in his arms. “Go back to sleep, scoundrel.”

 

Gert struggles to get herself out of his grip, to no avail. “Let me go, I have to get dressed!”

 

In a sleepy impression of Ina Garten, Chase mumbles, “If you can’t wear nice clothes to impress your judgy parents, pyjamas are fine.”

 

“Chase, that joke doesn’t even work. Let me go, you  _ oaf.” _

 

Still half asleep, Chase presses a kiss to the back of her neck.  _ Oh, so we’re doing that now? _ “It does too work.”

Blushing, now, Gert elbows him, finally escaping him and sitting up. “No, it does not. Now, come one, you need to get ready-”

 

She’s cut off by Old Lace bounding into the room, leaping onto the bed and barking, like,  _ I want to play! _ Gert giggles, picking her up in her arms. Carefully, so as not to hurt her, she points the dog’s face in Chase’s direction. “See, even O.L. wants you to get up.”

 

Chase rolls his eyes, reaching up to scratch her behind the ears. “Lace doesn’t want me to get up and go to a dumb picnic, she wants me to get up and go for a walk.”

 

“Same difference. She can go for a walk at the picnic, can’t you girl?” She presses a kiss to the top of Old Lace’s head. “Yes you can, yes you can, pretty girl- oh my God, stop laughing at me.”

 

Chase shakes his head, still giggling. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just- every time you babytalk her I have to crack up. It’s in my genetic code.”

 

Gert glares at him, flicking him on the shoulder. “Genetic code my ass, motherfucker.”   
  


~~~~~

 

It is way too cold for a picnic. Like, way too cold, who on the board thought November would be a good time to have a fucking picnic? 

 

He and Gert are walking Old Lace around the quad, people watching as they lean into each other ‘keep warm’. This, of course, is bullshit, but he likes having his arm around her shoulder and hers around his waist, so he’s not gonna say a damn thing about it. 

 

“Do you think they can just, like, not show up?” Gert says anxiously. “I would really prefer it if they didn’t show up.”

 

Chase rubs his hand up and down her bicep. “It’s only a few days, and then-”

 

“I’ll have to go home next week, and be subjected to them then, too. They’re inescapable. My stupid overbearing parents are gonna spend the entirety of Chanukah spreading their ‘we just want what’s best for you’ bullshit. I’m already sick of it, and it hasn’t even happened yet.”

 

“...At least you’ll have Molly?” 

 

Gert makes a face. “Yeah, but not until next week. It sucks, I miss having her around.”

 

“Gert, the moment you lay eyes on each other there’ll be a fight over, like, whether or not she stole your shoes, or something.” He knows, because he’s seen it happen. Four times. 

 

“Okay, last time she really did steal my shoes-”

 

“They were my shoes that you stole, I was just stealing them back!”

 

They both turn around to find Molly Hernandez, eighteen year old renaissance woman, standing five feet from them with her hands on her hips like some sort of superhero. 

 

“Oh my God, Molly!” Gert detaches from him to charge at her sister and jump into her arms. Molly giggles, lifting her easily, as if she’s no heavier than a cluster of grapes. 

 

Old Lace barks excitedly, dragging Chase over to them and trying her best to join in the hug. She’s a dog, so it’s not really all that possible, but luckily, Chase is not a dog, and as such wraps his arms around the both of them. It’s weird to hug Molly, or just be around her in general- he remembers when she was in diapers, and now she’s three inches taller than him and possibly some sort of minor deity. Seriously, he’s pretty sure he’s seen her eyes, like, glow once or twice.

 

Molly squeezes him tightly, giving a huge belly laugh. “Hey, munchkin, I missed you!”

 

With his face smushed into her shoulder, Chase says, “I am not a munchkin. Gert is a munchkin. I am a tank.”

 

Gert flicks him on the forehead. “Shut up, munchkin.”

 

Molly groans a little, then puts Gert down and pulls away from the both of them. She claps Chase on the shoulder, saying, “Hate to break it to you, but you kind of are a munchkin.”

 

He looks up at her, hating that he has do that. “You’re a menace.”

 

Molly reaches out, ruffling his hair before he can escape. “Okay, munchkin.”

 

She leans down to scratch Old Lace behind the ears, cooing at her. Gert grins down at her sister, saying, “So, did you come with...them?”

 

Molly rolls her eyes. “Gert, they’re our parents, not, like, cultists.”

 

“Wait,” Chase says, squinting, “do you  _ know  _ cultists?”   
  


Molly shrugs. “Maybe. Anyway, no, I didn’t- apparently they’re stuck in traffic?”

 

Gert relaxes for what could be the first time that day. “Wonderful. Let’s hope they hit rush hour.”

 

Molly makes a face. “I dunno, Stacey’s pretty determined to get here. And you know what she’s like.”

 

“Unfortunately.” Gert sighs, and he reaches over, squeezing her on the arm to comfort her. She gives him a small smile in thanks, seeming a little calmer.

 

Molly looks between them suspiciously. “You guys have anything you’d like to tell me?”

 

“What? No-” his phone goes off, interrupting him. He whips it out, seeing the text from Nico then saying, “Shit, I have to go.”

 

He passes off the leash to Gert, then, not thinking about it, presses a kiss to her cheek. “Seeya!”

 

He’s already a good fifty feet away from them when he realizes what he’s done- way too far to go back and apologize. Shit.

 

~~~~~

 

Gert cups her cheek, shocked.  _ What _ just happened?

 

“If you guys got together and didn’t tell me-”

 

“We didn’t.” _ I can’t believe he just did that. _

 

“Gert, come on-”

 

She unfreezes, turning to look at her sister. “I swear, we’re not together. I have no idea why he just did that.”

 

Molly scoffs. “Okay, the first half, I’ll believe. But the second? No way, Jose. There is  _ no  _ way you’re that blind.”

 

Gert squints at her, confused. “Huh?”

 

“Wait…” Molly pauses, as if unsure what to say. “Wow. You really are that blind, aren’t you?”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is at dinner with his family, and he is the only man at the table. If he was anyone else, this would probably be a bit grating, but for him, it means his father isn’t here, and that’s a win if he’s ever seen one.

 

Last year, he wasn’t the only guy- Robert was here, too, and, man, is that guy a blast, but unfortunately, he had a business thing going on this weekend. He and Tina stayed friends after the divorce- no reason to hate each other if the reason you split up was because one of you realized you were a lesbian. Wait, did he get the grammar on that right? He’ll ask Gert later.

 

Speaking of Gert, she’s been texting him non stop all evening. Apparently, her parents did end up making it, and she’s been pleading with him over iMessage to come help her escape. 

 

His phone vibrates again, and Chase checks it under the table. If he gets caught, Amy will grill him, and then his Moms will grill him even more.

 

**Chase I beg of youuuuuu they’re asking me about JOB PROSPECTS**

 

**I’M A JUNIOR AND I WORK AT FIVE GUYS MOM LAY THE FUCK OFF!!!**

 

**_Dude if I leave Mom will kill me_ **

 

**Which one**

 

**_Tina. which did u think_ **

 

**Her duh but I didn’t want 2 assume**

 

“Chase. Put away the phone.”

 

He pockets it and looks up, sucking in a breath at Tina’s glare. “Sorry, Mom. Gert’s nagging me to come pick her up.”

 

“Oh, so it  _ is  _ your girlfriend!” Amy says, nudging Nico. “I told you it was the girlfriend.”

 

Nico gives her a flat look. “They’re not dating.”

 

Amy’s face falls. “Still?”

 

“Still,” Chase says, glaring at the both of them. “And I thought we came here to catch up, not discuss my love life.”

 

Nico snorts. “What love life? All you do is sit and pine over a girl who’s been in love with you since forever.”

 

Beside her, Mom nods. “I can concur that she’s been in love with you since at least sophomore year. Do you remember State?”

 

“Yes, Mom,” Chase says, rolling his eyes. “Of course I remember State.”

 

Tina looks between them, confused. “Wait, what happened at State?”

 

Mom grins, excited to tell her Favourite Story In The History Of Ever. “Well-”

 

“Mom, please don’t, I’m begging-”   
  


“In Chase’s sophomore year of high school,” Mom starts, and Chase groans, holding his face in his hands, “he was a Lacrosse superstar. Brought that lousy team up from garbage and dragged ‘em all the way to the State Championships! Myself and the Yorkes drove all the way to Arizona to watch him play that game, and he won! And guess what the first thing he did was?”

 

“What?” Amy asks, curious. Fuck, he didn’t know it was possible to blush this hard. 

 

“Kiss Gert! He-”

 

“I was high on adrenaline! I didn’t even know if the sky was up or down!” He gestures wildly, trying to defend himself, but Mom just tuts at him.

 

“Sweetheart, you were a lovesick fifteen year old. And, besides, isn’t that such an adorable first kiss story?” She puts her hand over her heart, and Amy coos. Tina and Nico share an identical amused look, then go back to their meals. And Nico says they’re not alike…

 

~~~~~

 

“I wish I didn’t have to go.”

 

“I know, Gert,” Chase says. They’re at the airport, saying goodbye, and she hates this. She doesn’t want to leave him. “It won’t be as long as you think, though. I promise.”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “You say that every year, and every year, it still sucks without you.”

 

“Aw, Gertie,” he teases, “Are you saying you’ll miss me?”

 

“Of  _ course  _ I’ll miss you.” Gert bites her lip, then steps forward, wrapping him in a hug. Face pressed into his shoulder, she says, “You’re my best friend.”

 

Chase rubs his hand up and down her back. “I’m gonna miss you, too. I can’t believe you can’t come for my birthday this year, that’s such shit.”

 

Gert grins, glad that he can’t see it. She can, indeed, come to visit for his birthday, and she’s very excited to do so. Her and Nico have it all planned out right down to the time she’ll arrive. Chase just doesn’t know that yet. “I know, it’s the worst. Next year, though, okay?”

 

Chase hums, and she can feel the vibration against her skin. “Yeah. Next year.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is finding that holidays tend to suck significantly less when you’re around people who actually love you. When he was young, Christmas  _ sucked- _ he used to sneak out and spend the day with the Yorkes. It’s not like his parents noticed he was gone once he’d opened his presents- they’d just assume he was in his room, playing with his new toys. 

 

But now, with two moms that care about him and two sisters-  _ siblings!  _ He, Chase Stein, has  _ siblings!-  _ it’s fucking  _ awesome. _ And he doesn’t have to worry about his dad one bit, not with him holed up in some lame ass two room apartment after Mom won all his money in the divorce settlement. The only male parent he has to see during this whole trip is Robert, who has already been established as a cool dude. Robert calls him ‘sport’ and ruffles his hair a lot. Chase loves it. 

 

He wakes up on his birthday with a smile. For years, his tradition on December 27th was to be dragged to somewhere fancy with his parents (sometimes he was allowed to bring Gert. Sometimes) and then sneak out to go get pizza with Gert and Molly afterwards. God, turning twelve and not being allowed to have a real birthday party anymore was probably the worst thing to happen to him as a child. Wait, no. His father sent him to the hospital multiple times, one such time  _ on his actual birthday, _ what the fuck is he talking about?

 

Chase sits up in bed, shaking one of his ADHD pills out of the bottle and swallowing it with a swig of simulation grape flavoured Gatorade. He throws open the curtains, looking out at the falling snow. New York is so beautiful. He’s so glad Mom decided to move here with Tina, even if he’s gonna have to go walk Old Lace in a blizzard, now. He always takes her over the holidays- Dale has a dog allergy, so Gert can’t, no matter how much Molly would wish it so.

 

He’s woken up before the rest of the house, so he shrugs on his parka and clips Old Lace onto her leash, and the two of them head out into the snow. They take a lap around the neighbourhood, stopping at Chase’s favourite bodega so he can get a coffee and the little old woman who runs it can give Old Lace a treat. He really likes this bodega, mainly because, no matter how infrequent his visits to New York are, the woman, Annie, never forgets his name.

 

Chase returns to the house, coffee in hand as he kicks off his boots and unclips Old Lace from her leash. He tugs off his coat, yawning despite the caffeine. He’ll probably have to wait a while longer for it to really kick in.

 

Because he’s already up, Chase gets started on breakfast, Old Lace winding around his legs lazily. He’s halfway through buttering toast for himself (also why is there no turkey bacon? All they have is regular bacon, what the fuck?) when Amy walks in, rubbing at her eyes. 

 

“Oh, noooo,” she whines, “I was gonna make you birthday breakfast! You were gonna get clown Eggos!”

 

Chase frowns. “What’s a clown Eggo?” 

 

Her mouth drops open, and all of a sudden he hears Gert’s voice ringing in his ears with,  _ close your mouth, you’ll catch flies. _ “You’ve  _ never  _ had CLOWN EGGOS?”

 

It turns out, clown Eggos are pre-made waffles with a clown face made of candy, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream, and they are  _ delicious.  _ About halfway through his second, the rest of the house wakes up, and Nico makes fun of him for his ‘dumb kiddie breakfast’. She asks Amy to make her one immediately after this.

 

After his third clown Eggo, the doorbell rings, and everyone but Nico trades confused looks. Wearing a secret kind of smile, she says, “Chase, why don’t you answer that?”

 

He could complain, but this feels like a Fun Birthday Surprise, so he does as she asks, heading out to the front porch. Nico follows him, whipping out her phone and starting to record him. Oh, yeah, definitely Fun Birthday Surprise.

 

Grinning, Chase opens the door, expecting a package and getting…”Oh my God, Gert! You’re here!”

 

“I am!” She starts to say something else, but Chase cuts her off to wrap her in a hug, squeezing tight. Muffled, she exclaims, “Chase, you’re gonna crush my ribs!”

 

He lets her go, holding her by the shoulders. He can’t believe she’s here, standing in front of him with snow in her hair and a smile brighter than the Rockefeller Christmas tree. “How are you here right now?”

 

“That would be me,” Nico says, still filming. “We kind of planned this.”

 

Chase gives her a teary smile. “Thank you.”

 

“Of course!” Nico says, shutting off the camera. This was probably a good choice, seeing as Chase is coming at her, arms open for a bear hug. He squeezes her tightly, and from behind him, he hears what sounds like Gert trying to get her suitcase inside and...failing miserably. 

 

Chase separates from Nico, turning around to help her. He shoos Gert away from the suitcase, pushes down on the trolley handle, then grabs it by the strap and pulls it over the ledge, easy as pie. He shuts the door, closing out the cold. 

 

Gert gives him a halfhearted glare. “I could’ve done it myself.”

 

“Gert, every time you go somewhere with a suitcase you refuse to use anything but the trolley handle, and it is going to break the bag.” Gert sticks her tongue out. “Oh, stop being a baby.”

 

“I am not a baby!” Gert says, stomping her foot, and Chase can’t help but snort. She blushes. “Shut up.”

 

He’s about to say something else when Old Lace bounds into the room, barking excitedly. He’s surprised she didn’t come out earlier, but O.L. has never been a race-you-to-the-door kind of dog. 

 

Gert giggles as Old Lace all but jumps onto her, stumbling back a little from the weight. So she doesn’t fall, Chase reaches out and puts his hand on her back. In the middle of baby-talking Old Lace, she meets his gaze, giving him a grateful smile.

 

He feels Nico’s eyes on him, so he turns, and, woah, that sure is a judgy look on her face. 

 

_ What? _ He mouths, confused.

 

But Nico just rolls her eyes, not giving him a response. And a moment later, the rest of his family barges in, so it looks like he won’t be getting one anytime soon. 

 

~~~~~

 

They’re giving Chase his gifts right now, and Gert is positively  _ buzzing. _ Literally about to burst from excitement. Alex helped her with Chase’s gift this year, and she just knows that it’s gonna be perfect. 

 

He opens Amy’s gift, a pair of fancy pants gym shoes, first, and then the gift from his moms- another snow-globe for his collection. This one is of the New York skyline, which Gert is pretty sure he already has, but this one is Fancy and Expensive, so he gets excited anyway. Robert’s gift is a baseball glove signed by a Mets player whose name she forgot as soon as he said it, mostly because she’s sweating buckets, now. All the other gifts are so expensive! What if he thinks hers is lame?

 

Chase turns to her, rubbing his hands together excitedly. Oh, God, what if he’s expecting something all schnazzy? Most of her gift is made from things she bought at Michaels! 

 

Nervously, she hands the package to him, and he rips open the wrapping paper the same way someone fifteen years his junior might. Chase stares down at it, like he’s trying to soak everything in.

 

It’s a heavy picture frame, decorated with fabric daisies (his favourite flower), red paste gemstones, and plastic gears that she attacked with silver glitter to make it look more real. The ‘picture’ itself, though, seems to confuse him- all it is is a blank screen.

 

“Here,” Gert says, reaching over and pressing down on a small button in the left corner of the frame, and the screen springs to life, a loading symbol appearing in the center and starting to turn in a circle.

 

Chase turns to her, eyebrows furrowed. “What is this?”

 

Nico cranes her neck from her seat on the armchair for a better look. “Wait, isn’t that the thing you and Al have been working on?”

 

Gert grins. “Yep.”

 

“Well, I wanna see,” Amy says, and all three Adultier Adults chime in in agreement. 

 

“Okay, okay,” Gert says. She turns to Chase, hand out. “Here, can I put it in the middle so everyone can watch?”

 

Chase hands it over, and as she sets it up in the middle of the coffee table, asks, “Wait, is this, like, a video thing?”

 

Gert winks at him, and just as she does so, the video fully loads, a funky transitional graphic with ONE in big letters appearing on-screen. A second later, it fades into an old video of Chase’s first birthday party. She doesn’t remember it, because duh, but she knows she was there, mostly because she’s been shown this video dozens of times. A much younger Janet brings over a cake, all the adults singing the happy birthday song, and just when the cake is placed in front of an infant Chase, Gert, nearly two at the time, grabs the back of his head and plunges his face into the cake. 

 

Everyone watching laughs, except for Chase, who’s watching the screen intently as the next video, this one from his second birthday, starts to play. He starts to get teary around the video from his fifth birthday, but the one from his sixth starts to play is when he really starts crying.

 

It’s the two of them in Chase’s backyard, chubby-cheeked and each missing a few teeth, very seriously discussing a birthday-wedding. Six year old Gert keeps calling it a birthdedding, which is hilarious to hear now seeing as she had a lisp at the time. The camera gets closer to them to capture more of the conversation, and Chase spots it, jumping up and asking,  _ “Mooom, can we have a birthday wedding?” _

On the other side of the camera, Janet asks,  _ “Well, who’s getting married?” _

 

Six year old Chase, with his bug-eye glasses and messy haircut, grabs six year old Gert by the arm, pulling her up with him. _ “Us!” _

They both start chanting  _ birthday-wedding birthday-wedding birthday-wedding _ as the video fades out, and as everyone starts giggling, Chase leans into her, pressing his wet face into her shoulder. Gert wraps an arm around his back, rubbing her hand up and down to soothe him.

 

The next half-dozen videos are various birthday parties where Gert and Chase get into the most rowdy of shenanigans, and they all giggle at them, Chase and Gert more tearful than the rest. She had already seen all of these videos while putting everything together, but to watch them with him is a whole other story.

 

The thirteenth video starts up, and Chase laughs softly. “I remember this one.”

 

Gert reaches up and squeezes his shoulder, and they watch as a thirteen year old Gert shakily points the camera at a mulleted Chase and asks,  _ “So, how’s it feel to finally be thirteen like the rest of us?” _

 

The two of them were on Gert’s back porch, eating pizza from the corner store down the street. He’d snuck out that night after the dumb fancy dinner with his parents, and they’d ridden their bikes down there and came back within the half hour, just as they’d planned. It was dark, but one of his gifts that year was a bunch of expensive equipment for his bike, so he was fine.

 

Thirteen year old Chase scrunches his nose up.  _ “I dunno. How’s it feel to still have braces?” _

 

Gert groans from behind the camera. _ “Oh, shut it. At least I’m taller!” _

 

The video changes again, this time to his fourteenth. As a similar scene plays, with the only difference this time being Molly’s involvement, Nico says, “Oh my God, there’s no way you were taller than him.”

 

Gert snorts. “Yep. He was the last kid in our grade to get tall- it took him until our junior year to hit his growth spurt.”

 

Chase wrinkles his nose at her. “I was a late bloomer!”

 

“You were a- oh.” The video from his fifteenth birthday has started.

 

They all watch in silence as the video focuses onto a plain white door. Fifteen year old Gert knocks on it, asking, _ “Can I come in?” _

_ “Gert?” _ asks a voice on the other side of the door, and it’s pushed open to reveal a fifteen year old Chase sitting up in his hospital bed, battered and bruised.  _ “What are you doing here?” _

 

_ “I, um, it’s your birthday, so I got you a cupcake. And, um, we always do a video, y’know? But I can shut it off if you want.” _

Fifteen year old Chase squints into the camera.  _ “If you turn it off, you won’t sing me Happy Birthday, will you?” _

 

_ “Nope.” _

 

_ “Then fine.”  _ He beckons her forward.  _ “Quiet, though, okay? Headache.” _

 

_ “Wait, one sec.”  _ The screen goes dark for a moment (Gert had shoved the phone under her arm to stick a candle in the cupcake and light it) before coming back, focusing in on the cupcake as Gert approaches, singing,  _ “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Cha-ase, Happy Birthday to you…” _

 

The video fades out, the room dead silent as the next starts up. As it plays, Chase stares at the floor, sniffling. Gert hugs him from behind, mumbling, “I shouldn’t have added that one. I’m sorry.”

 

“No, it’s- it’s fine, I swear, I just... _ fuck.  _ I really spent my fifteenth birthday in the hospital because of him, huh?”

 

From her spot in the armchair, Nico makes an angry little noise in the back of her throat. “Rat bastard.”

 

Janet reaches over, squeezing his hand, but Chase doesn’t look up, even when she says, “I still wish I’d gotten us away from him sooner, even if it would’ve meant a custody battle.”

 

“Me too,” Chase says, then sighs, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. “But, um, anyways. I think we just missed, like, two birthdays.”

 

“This one’s a good one, though,” Gert says, grabbing his hand and entangling their fingers. “Your eighteenth, remember?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Chase says, brightening, “the snow storm.”

 

On Chase’s eighteenth birthday, there was a horrible, horrible snow storm. Snowmaggedon, the local news said, but they just called it hell. They were both halfway convinced they wouldn’t see each other at all that day- they’d Facetimed, but with the snow, the power outages, and the high winds, there was no chance, right? Or, at least, that’s what she led Chase to believe. Gert can always find a way to get something done, she’s resourceful like that. She ended up catching a ride from a snow plow operator (she paid him fifty bucks for it, actually) and made it to Chase’s dorm on the other side of campus by four in the afternoon.

 

_ “Okay, okay, selfie time, I wanna prove to Molly that I actually got here,”  _ Gert’s voice says, holding out the camera. They’re cuddled up together, wrapped in about three blankets because it was freezing. 

 

They both grin into the camera, rosy-cheeked and happy, but then Chase’s expression changes.  _ “Wait, is it a video?” _

 

_ “Oh, shit, it is, damn it, I’m still getting used to this phone-”  _ the video cuts off, and everyone in the room laughs a little. 

 

“I still can’t believe you payed a snow plow operator fifty bucks to drive you across campus just to wish me a happy birthday,” Chase says, shaking his head, but Gert just wrinkles her nose at him. 

 

“Wait, you did  _ what  _ now-”   
  


“Shh, Nico, next one is starting.”

 

She shuts up, and they all watch as Chase nearly jumps out of his skin as he walks into the apartment and is immediately bombarded by herself, Nico, Karolina, Alex, and Victor all leaping up and yelling,  _ “SURPRISE!” _

 

The screen transitions to the number TWENTY in big yellow lettering, and Chase says, “Last one.”

 

The camera focuses in on Chase’s bedroom door as Gert gently pushes it open, the video becoming more and more shaky as she barges in and rushes the bed, jumping onto it and yelling, _ “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOSER!” _

_ “It’s too early for birthdays,” _ Chase groans, _ “let me sleep and stay nineteen.” _

 

_ “No!” _ She yells, still jumping, and for a few moments, all you can see is darkness as Chase grabs her and pulls her down with him, Gert giggling the whole way.

 

The camera flips to front facing, showing a grinning Gert and a sleepy Chase leaning into her side.  _ “Happy birthday!” _

 

The video fades out, and Chase turns to her, tearful. “I think this is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”

 

She grins. “So you liked it, then?”

 

Chase wraps his arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “That doesn’t even begin to cut it.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase doesn’t really like plane rides. They’re bumpy, and loud, and he used to get airsick as a kid. 

 

It’s easier, though, when he’s not alone. He, Gert, and Nico are all in the same row, Chase between them while Gert stares out the window and Nico snores. Old Lace is in the cargo, probably taking a nap, because she’s unshakeable.

 

“You feeling okay?” He asks, nudging her. She’s been looking out the window for quite a long time, now.

 

Gert shakes herself out of a daydream, turning away from the window. “Yeah, I guess. I’m just kinda tired.”

 

She shifts, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. Chase grabs her hand, tangling their fingers together and saying, “You’re the one who decided to ‘get drunk for me’ last night.”

 

“Oh my God, shut uppp, that was so embarrassiiiing,” she whines, “I can’t believe I said that in front of your moms, I’m such a-”

 

“You are a good friend, is what you are. You embarrassing yourself meant I didn’t have to explain to my Mom why I was drinking virgin cocktails instead of real alcohol. Can you imagine the kind of conversation that would’ve been? ‘Yeah, sorry Mom, because of you and dad’s shitty parenting, I turned to alcohol to cope, and Gert had to make me go to AA during freshman year’? Nah. Making sure you didn’t die of alcohol poisoning was a much better option.”

 

Gert laughs, squeezing his hand. “Happy I could be of service, then.”

 

He squeezes back, desperately wishing that he could kiss her right now. “I’m really glad you came to visit, Gert.”

 

She gives him a soft look, then says, “Me, too.”

 

~~~~~

 

“Hey, do I look okay?” Gert asks as she walks into Chase room, gesturing down at her outfit for their New Year’s Eve party. “I’m not sure if this works.”

 

Chase looks up from his book, and his eyes go wide as saucers. “Holy shit, Gert.”

 

She looks down at the pine green velvet jumpsuit she’s wearing, tugging at one of the bell sleeves. They only come halfway down her bicep, and she thought it looked pretty good. “What? Is it the wide leg? Y’know, I told Molly it was too much-”

 

“No, no, that was- I meant it in a good way. You look…” He trails off, his eyes tracing her body, and Gert feels her face go red. “You look amazing.”

 

“O-oh. Um, thanks. What do you think of the makeup? Is it too, y’know, in your face?”

 

“C’mere,” he says, making a beckoning motion with his hand. Gert approaches, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He squints at her foolishly, taking in the wash of silvery glitter over her eyelids and the blotted berry lipstick across her mouth. “I like it- especially the shimmery stuff on your eyes. It’s really pretty.”

 

She blushes. “Thanks. Also, you need to get ready- Nico will make fun of you if you wear pyjamas.”

 

~~~~~

 

Once Gert leaves his room, he changes out of his sweats and t-shirt (which technically weren’t pyjamas, so suck it, Gert) and into his best jeans and a white button-up.

 

Chase heads to the kitchen, Old Lace on his heels. He holds out his arms, asking, “Is this good?”

 

Gert gives him a once over, then raises an eyebrow. “Your buttons aren’t done up correctly.”

 

Chase looks down, and, oh, shit. He starts fiddling with them, but apparently he’s too slow at it, because Gert approaches him and swats his hands away. Hands working quickly, she undoes the buttons, untucking his shirt, as well. 

 

“I can, uhm, do it up for you, too, if you want…” her voice is soft, and unsteady, almost. Chase nods, probably too fast. 

 

Gert nods back, her hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Her eyes flick upward, and she says, “Did you put that there?”

 

He follows her gaze, and, oh. Mistletoe. “No. Did you?”

 

Gert gives him a weird look. “Clearly not, dummy.” 

 

“Oh. Right. Um. Could we- I mean, would you be okay with-”   
  


Gert bites her lip.  “Yeah, Chase.”

 

Quite nervous, Chase reaches out, cupping her cheek. He leans in, brushing her nose with his before taking the plunge and kissing her. There are so many reasons they shouldn’t be doing this. Because it went badly last time. Because their guests are set to arrive soon. Because he’s in love with her, and she doesn’t feel the same, because, because, because. But he’s still kissing her right now, so who’s talking, really? 

 

Gert flattens her hand against his bare chest, her fingers  _ tap-tap-tapping _ over his heart as they kiss. Chase hums into her mouth, his hand sliding into her hair, and-

 

The buzzer goes off, and they spring apart as if shocked. 

 

Gert licks her lips, panting a little. “I’ll get the door. You- you get dressed, okay?”

 

She books it out of the room, and Chase slumps back against the wall.  _ Fuck. _

 

~~~~~

 

Gert’s brain feels weird right now. Like, reeeeeally weird. Floaty, or something. She probably shouldn’t have drank so much, but Alex brought  _ vodka gummy bears.  _ How is she supposed to say no to vodka gummy bears?

 

She’s sitting in Chase’s lap right now, because he’s good at holding her and he smells better than the couch. They should stop letting Old Lace take naps on it, she’s totally stinking it up. 

 

Gert shifts in his lap, and Chase rubs his hand up and down her back absentmindedly. He really is good at holding her. Like a cup. Wait, that was funny, she should say that out loud. 

 

She pokes him on the cheek to grab his attention. “Hey, hey, Chase, you’re...a cup!”

 

Chase laughs a little, confused. “Gert, what? How am I a cup?”

 

She pokes him in the cheek again, right in the dimple. “Good at holding me.”

 

Chase snorts, shaking his head. From the armchair, Alex, who’s also had too many vodka gummy bears, cackles. Livvie, who’s perched on the arm of the chair, glares at him for this, but laughs anyways when he says, “I diagnose you with cup.”

 

“And I,” Karolina says drunkenly, wagging her finger at Alex, “diagnose  _ you  _ with bitch.”

 

Alex shrugs. “That’s fair.”

 

Nico, who’s been playing with Old Lace for the past half hour, looks up at the clock. Deadpan, she says, “Hey, guys, five minutes to midnight.”

 

Gert’s jaw drops. “No way! No way, no it’s not.”

 

Chase snorts, grabbing the remote so he can turn on the countdown. “Yeah, it is, Gertie.”

 

Gert is half way through saying she doesn’t believe his lies when he points at the television. There’s an ugly newscaster wearing earmuffs on-screen, standing in a crowd of people. He’s yelling about how many people are there to watch the fireworks, and oh, shit it really is five minutes to midnight.

 

They spend the next few minutes maker fun of the newscaster, because he really is butt ugly, and everyone but Chase is drunk, so even the most nonsensical insults are funny. 

 

The countdown starts, and they chant along, yelling their heads off. “TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!!!”

 

The fireworks go off on-screen, and Gert turns to Chase, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him messily. Chase makes a surprised sound, then pulls back, laughing a little. When Gert pouts at him, he says, “Come on, Gert, you’re, like, way too drunk.”

 

“So? Everybody else is making out!” 

 

Chase shakes his at her, and she pouts more. “They’re all drunk. I’m not. That’s the difference.”

 

Gert grins slyly. “Does that mean you’d kiss me if I  _ wasn’t  _ drunk?”

 

Nico, whos given up the goat on trying to make out with Karolina ‘drunk slobbermonster’ Dean, snorts, and Gert gives her the finger.

 

Chase blushes. “Um, can we talk about this later, maybe?”

 

Gert groans, rolling her eyes. “Ugh, fine.”

 

~~~~~

 

It’s officially the New Year, and Chase is the only one sober for it. Awake, too, actually- Nico and Karolina have gone home by now, but Alex and Livvie are still cuddled up in the armchair, sound to the world. Looks like they’re sleeping here.

 

Not him and Gert, though. They’re gonna sleep in their own beds, even if it means he has to carry her to her room. Which he does end up having to do, because getting Gert to do shit on her own while drunk is like trying to reach -5 degrees Kelvin. Oh, that was funny, he should write that down later. 

 

Chase pushes open her bedroom door with his shoulder, carefully laying her on the bed. He tucks her in, and he’s just about to turn off her lamp when Gert groans, “Chase?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

She pats the bed, and he sits down on the edge of it, waiting. “Can I ask you somethin’?”

 

Chase nods. “Anything.”

 

“How come you never kiss me without an excuse? Either it’s some dumb holiday, or, or,  _ I _ kiss  _ you,  _ or...somethin’. Why don’t you just kiss me, y’know? I’d, I’d be okay with it.”

 

He blinks, surprised. “You would?”

 

“Yeah, duhhh. I’m in love with you, dummy! Of course I’d be okay with it.” Wait,  _ what? _

 

“W-would you repeat that?”

 

Gert rolls her eyes. “No. You have ears that work, last I checked. G’night.” 

 

Chase, in the midst of a total system shutdown, just nods awkwardly, standing and backing out of the room. He lies down in bed, staring at the ceiling as he wonders what the  _ fuck  _ just happened. Gert’s in love with him?  _ Him? _ Chase Stein? She loves him? What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK?  **WHAT THE FUCK?** **_WHAT THE FUCK?_ **

 

He doesn’t sleep a wink, obviously. How could he?  _ Gert’s in love with him. _

 

~~~~~

 

Gert wakes up with a pounding headache and the feeling that she has made a terrible, terrible mistake. 

 

She sifts through her memories of last night, and oh, no. she hasn’t just made a terrible mistake. She has made the most terrible mistake one person could possibly make. She actually  _ talked about her feelings! _

Gert stumbles out of bed, chugging what’s left of the water bottle on her bedside table. She looks down at herself and groans, wishing she hadn’t worn a jumpsuit as she staggers over to her closet and finds something comfortable to wear. She pulls on her hoodie, then checks the time. 10AM. Shit. Chase is definitely up by now.

 

She sneaks out of her room, hoping against hope that she’ll be able to leave without him noticing. She’s just made it through the living room, stepping over her snoring friends to do so, when she hears a clatter from the kitchen. 

 

“Gert? Is that you? Hey, can we talk about-”

 

“Nope!” She sprints to the front porch, frantically pulling on her shoes and grabbing her key ring, then bolting out the door. Gert rushes down the stairs, miraculously not falling on her face, then finally exits the building. She flags down a taxi, and jumps in, telling the driver to take her straight to Nico and Karolina’s. 

 

The guy gives her a weird look. “Huh? Lady, be more specific.”

 

Gert shakes her head, annoyed with herself. “Crap, sorry, rough night. Uh, the apartment building on Bluejay, please. Carter Heights?”

 

“You got it.”

 

~~~~~

 

Chase is wholly unsurprised that Gert left. She’s bad at talking about her feelings, and this is probably the biggest conversation about feelings they’ll ever have, if he can track her down. Luckily, he doesn’t have to. Nico does it for him.

**Hey ur gf is here whining abt saying ily last night would u come pick her up and say it back this is annoying**

 

**_She’s not my girlfriend yet but yeah sure_ **

 

**YET wow u admitted it**

 

**_I mean she did tell me she was in love with me last night so_ **

 

He shows up at Nico and Karolina’s with a McDonald’s bag of peace offering breakfast in hand, knocking on the door. “Hey, let me in!”

 

“KAROLINA, IF YOU LET HIM IN I WILL KILL YOU,” Gert says loudly on the other side of the door. “I’VE EMBARRASSED MYSELF ENOUGH!”

 

The door swings open, and a very tired looking Karolina gives him an awkward smile. “Hi. You’re not allowed in.”

 

Chase tries to get a glimpse of Gert, but with the way the apartment is set up, it’s just not possible. “Are you sure? I’d really like to talk to her.”

 

Karolina shakes her head no, and he sighs. “Fine. I brought her breakfast, though, would you give it to her?”

 

She blinks, then takes the bag from him. “Sure.”

 

“And tell her...actually, never mind. I need to talk to her face to face, and she needs to be- I don’t want to besiege her with a conversation she isn’t ready to have yet.”

 

Karolina scrunches her nose up. “I don’t know what that word means, but okay.”

 

~~~~~

 

“Gert, I cannot  _ fucking  _ believe you. Are you kidding me right now? He was right there! Right FUCKING there! God, why does everything always have to happen when I’m in the shower?” Nico flops back on the couch, which is good, because Gert thought her next action would be to strangle her. 

 

“Listen, I just-”

 

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear you say one word for at least the next half hour. You’re denying yourself a fantastic love story, and I’m really starting to hate you for it.” 

 

“But-”

 

“Nope!” Nico gets up from the couch with a groan, approaching Gert and grabbing her by the face. “Listen, Gert, I’m gonna tell you this one, honest, truth, and then I’m gonna be done: Chase Stein is in love with you. He has been in love with you since you were kids, and he’s not gonna stop being in love with you, ever. I know this, our friends know this, the entire planet knows this. So stop denying yourself this love story, okay? Accept that your life is a romcom and give the rest of us who’ve been watching the two of you torture yourselves some peace, okay?”

 

“We don’t torture ourselves,” Gert says, but it comes out kind of smushed. Nico still hasn’t let go of her face.

 

“Yes, you do.” Karolina is painting her toenails in the middle of the living room, and previously had not been a part of this conversation. “You guys are such shit at talking about your feelings for people who are gonna get married one day.”

 

Gert pulls away from Nico’s grip, finally. “Oh my God, Karolina-”

 

“What? It’s true.” She looks up, nonplussed. “You’re the one who signed that dumb paper thingie.”

 

Gert squints at her. “Huh?”

 

Karolina rolls her eyes, then says to Nico, “Babe, y’know that blue hatbox on the top of the fridge? Would you get it for me, please?”

 

Nico nods, disappearing into the kitchen and re-emerging a moment later, hatbox in hand. She gives it to Karolina, who rifles through it for a moment before triumphantly holding out a piece of yellow paper. She beckons Gert towards her, saying, “Look at this.”

 

Gert sits down across from her, taking the paper and looking it over. In incredibly messy lettering, it says,  _ ONE DAY I AM GOING TO MARRY CHASE STEIN AND HE’S GOING TO TAKE MY LAST NAME. SIGNED, GERTRUDE RHIANNON YORKES. 03/04/20 _

 

“I don’t- I don’t remember this,” Gert says quietly, tracing the words with the tip of her finger.

 

Karolina snorts. “Of course you don’t. You wrote it drunk off your ass in freshman year. You told me to keep it- apparently drunk you thought it might be important one day.”

 

A tear slips down her cheek, and Gert wipes at her eyes messily.  _ “Jesus.” _

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re welcome,” Karolina says absentmindedly as she paints her big toe bright green, possibly implying that she’s the Beloved Son of God? But it’s a problem for another time.

 

Gert swallows, looking up at Nico. “Do you really think he…”

 

Nico nods. “Yeah, Gert. I do.”

 

Gert bites her lip. “Well, then. Guess I have to go.”

 

She doesn’t move from her spot on the floor, and Nico glares at her, then kicks her thigh. “Go talk about your feelings, you lovesick loser, or I’m never letting you into my apartment again.”

 

Gert stands, then very slowly starts walking towards the door. “Fine...fine…”

 

Nico grabs her from behind and starts pushing her to the front porch, where she all but forces her to put on her shoes. She even calls a Lyft for her, and watches her get into it. Drat. now she can’t tell the guy to go somewhere else, or Nico will know, and she’ll, like, place a curse upon her, or something. Art majors are so weird.

 

~~~~~

 

It’s four in the afternoon, and because he’s got nothing better to do, Chase is watching  _ When Harry Met Sally _ and waiting for Gert to decide she’s ready to talk to him. He’s changed his mind since this morning, and decided he’s kind of mad at her for acting like this. Can’t they have a mature conversation like the adults that they are?

 

The screen flickers, because it’s a shitty T.V. from a second hand store, and Chase gets a glimpse of himself right now. He’s currently wearing Power Rangers pyjama pants. Hm. Maybe he shouldn’t be so quick to call himself mature. 

 

A few minutes later, he hears the front door open, and Gert call, “Hey, I’m- I’m home.”

 

Chase jumps to his feet, rushing to the hallway. Gert is standing at the end of it with an awkward look on her face. She gives him a small wave. “Um, hi.”

 

“Hey.” 

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hey- oh, this is stupid.” He closes the distance between them, grabbing her face and kissing her in one swift motion. Gert makes a surprised noise, then melts into it, reaching out and curling her fingers into his t-shirt. She tastes mildly tropical, probably from the lip balm she stole off of him, and her lips are incredibly soft, but, unfortunately, he can’t keep kissing her. He needs to tell her he loves her, first. 

 

Chase pulls away, resting his forehead against hers. “I love you, too, by the way. Like, a lot.”

 

Gert grins, eyes still closed. “Say that again?”

 

“I love you,” he says, pecking her on the mouth. “I love you.” He does it again, just because he can. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

 

She giggles, then returns the favour, kissing him long and slow. She pulls back, grinning. “I love you, too.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Oh, shut up,” she teases, “you’re too much of a dork to be Han Solo.”

 

Chase rolls his eyes lovingly. “Fine, fine, I love you.”

 

“I know.”

 

He laughs, pulling her closer and pressing his mouth to hers. Chase can already tell that he’s going to get addicted to kissing her, but who cares, really? They’re in this for the long run, aren’t they?

 

**__________**

 

It’s years later, and Gert is standing in front of him wearing the prettiest dress he’s ever seen. Of course, Gert has always been the prettiest thing he’s ever seen, so maybe he’s biased, but he doesn’t think so. Everything in their lives has changed so much, from graduating, to moving to Concord, to getting a tabby cat named Rufus so Old Lace wasn’t so lonely anymore, just all of it, really. But that stays the same, and it probably always will. Gert’s going to be gorgeous her whole life long, he just knows it.

 

She’ll probably never be as beautiful as she is today, though. Or maybe she will, but he’s kind of focused on the right now. They’re in their backyard, standing in front of all their friends and family, and Gert has tears in her eyes as she starts, “In college, someone really smart told me to stop denying myself a fantastic love story…”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
